Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's chief executive, has said he is confident the organisation has put together a solid case against the three Pakistan players accused of spot-fixing that will "stand the test of scrutinty". The players, former Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and new-ball bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, will face an independant tribunal that will decide their fate from January 6 to January 11, 2011.
"We've worked hard at collecting all the evidence that we would require to make the charges stand," Lorgat told the BBC.
Michael Beloff QC, who chairs the ICC's code of conduct commission, will head the tribunal that will hear the case, along with fellow code of conduct commissioners Justice Albie Sachs of South Africa and Kenya's Sharad Rao. If the players are found guilty, Lorgat said they will be dealt with firmly. "We would want to be proportional but at the same time we do not want to show any leniency. These are severe issues and integrity of the game is absolutely fundamental and we would not want to tolerate any of that in the sport."
The players, however, will be free to challenge the ruling in the Court for Arbitration for Sport. "My understanding is that any matter that we decide on in a disciplinary process is always open to contest in the Court of Arbitration for Sport," Lorgat said.
The News of the World, the tabloid that broke the spot-fixing story in August, is also set to be part of the tribunal hearings. The story first appeared in the publication on the third evening of the fourth Test at Lord's between Pakistan and England.
NOTW alleged that the three players were involved in bowling deliberate, planned no-balls in England's first innings. Much of the published story centred around a video sting operation in which Mazhar Majeed, an agent to the players, was filmed talking about the no-balls and allegedly taking payment for them from undercover reporters posing as a betting syndicate.
The evidence gathered by the publication was passed on to Scotland Yard and the ICC's anti-corruption unit (ACSU), who subsequently launched their own investigations and gathered more evidence. The UK's Crown Prosecution Service is currently considering whether the evidence passed on to them by police is enough to warrant criminal prosecution against the players.
The ICC's response was swifter. They provisionally suspended the three, soon after the story emerged, based on the ACSU's investigations. Since then, Butt and Amir have had their appeals against suspensions dismissed by Beloff in a hearing in Dubai. Asif chose not to appeal.
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