The International Cricket Council (ICC) will appoint an independent commissioner to determine the fate of the three Pakistani players fighting spot-fixing charges.
ICC President Sharad Pawar said captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who have been provisionally suspended and charged by the ICC under their anti-corruption code, will get an opportunity to present their version of the spot-fixing scandal that has rocked the sport.
"We have not punished anybody," Pawar told Times Now channel in New York on Saturday where he is attending an international meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party of which he is the president.
"If there are some serious allegations and if the anti-corruption unit of the ICC comes to some prima facie conclusion, then we will have to send a notice to that particular player, it is not a final decision.
"The notice means giving them an opportunity to explain their position."
Pawar did not say who the commissioner was or when they would be appointed but explained the protocol they would go through.
"(The) ICC appoints an independent person as the commissioner and gives (an) opportunity to the player to put his views and explanations before the commissioner and not the ICC and the commissioner's recommendations will be final for (the) ICC," spelled out the Indian agriculture minister.
He also assured the Pakistani cricketers they would get a fair hearing.
"This is not an action (against them). This is sort of notice given to them, an opportunity given to them to explain their position."
The News of the World newspaper, which broke the scandal, said that a fourth Pakistani player was being investigated by the ICC over match-rigging claims.
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