British prosecutors charged cricketers Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt and an agent with corruption offences on Friday as an alleged spot-fixing scandal headed towards the courts. The charges relate to alleged incidents during a Test match against England at Lord's last year, when Britain's News of the World tabloid claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls.
The newspaper alleged the players, who are currently provisionally suspended from international cricket, had colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed. "We have decided that Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt and their agent, Mazhar Majeed, should be charged with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and also conspiracy to cheat," Simon Clements of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement.
"These charges relate to allegations that Mr Majeed accepted money from a third party to arrange for the players to bowl 'no balls' on 26 and 27 August 2010, during Pakistan's fourth Test at Lord's Cricket Ground in London." Clements, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, added: "We are satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute."
They have been told to return "voluntarily" to Britain for the hearing or prosecutors will seek their extradition. Majeed must also appear on the same date at the same court, City of Westminster Magistrates. The Pakistan trio have all repeatedly denied wrongdoing. A separate International Cricket Council (ICC) tribunal is due to announce the conclusions from its own probe into the matter in Doha on Saturday. Aamer, reacting to the announcement, told AFP in Doha: "I have just come to know about this. I will discuss this with my lawyer. "My first attention is on the ICC hearing and verdict on Saturday."
The world governing body's code of conduct carries a maximum lifetime ban from the game if corruption charges are proved. A News of the World spokeswoman welcomed the move by English prosecutors, saying: "Every true cricket fan will want to see justice served.
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