London: The three Pakistan cricketers suspended by the ICC over accusations of fixing have been released without criminal charge after questioning by police in London.
Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt were questioned separately at Kilburn police station in northwest London.
Their lawyer says the players, who claim they are innocent, will continue to cooperate with police and the International Cricket Council in their investigations.
The allegations that the trio deliberately bowled no -- balls in last week's fourth test against England have been described by ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat as the most serious to face the sport for a decade.
Meanwhile, miffed with the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit's handling of the 'spot-fixing' scandal involving Salman Butt Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir, the Pakistan Cricket Board might sue the ACSU if the players are found innocent.
The PCB's senior legal advisor Talib Rizvi told PTI that if the players were eventually found innocent, then the PCB would consider taking legal action against the ICC and other bodies involved in making the allegations and conducting the inquiry against the players.
"I just want to be clear the PCB will consider legal action against the ICC and other bodies if our players are found innocent because we feel the ICC has bypassed some of its own procedures in suspending the players and and overall in this case," Rizvi said.
He also emphasised that at the moment there was no criminal investigation going on against the three players.
"It is just a preliminary inquiry and nothing more. They are being questioned. No investigations have been held," he added.
Rizvi, who also represented the PCB in the appellate tribunal during the hearing of the appeals of players against their bans and fines this year, claimed that so far the ICC had not shown any evidence against the three players.
"Even today at the press conference the ICC and ACSU were asked about the evidence or charges against our players but they gave no details. So we want to know the reasons for suspending the players."
Talib's son, Tafazzul Rizvi is also in London as the board's legal advisor and is closely involved in the ongoing inquiry by the Scotland Yard.
He accompanied the three players yesterday to the Kilburn police station where they were summoned for detailed questioning.
Sources close to the PCB said that until now even Tafazzul Rizvi had not been given any concrete evidence on basis of which the ICC decided to suspend Butt, Asif and Aamir.
Talib said it was too early to say when the inquiry would end or when Scotland Yard would give a detailed report.
"We just feel that the suspension of our players is a bit harsh in the circumstances," he added.
Pakistan lashes out at ICC for suspending trio
Pakistan today lashed out at the ICC for suspending three of its players facing ''spot-fixing'' charges and sought to insinuate that its President Sharad Pawar had a hand in the decision. Pakistan''s High Commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan threatened to sue the ICC for its unethical decision of suspending the players and said it was trying to make Pakistan a "scapegoat" for its inefficiency.
Pakistan's High Commissioner in London, Wajid S Hasan has threatened to sue the ICC saying that they are biased against Pakistan cricket. His comments come in the backdrop of ICC suspending Salman Butt, Mohd Asif, and Mohd Aamer on spot-fixing allegations.
He also claims that the players were suspended after a telephone conversation between ICC President Sharad Pawar and Lorgat. The suspension he felt wasn't ethical, because Sharad Pawar had said that there would be no pre-judgement of guilt.
"The three players met me requested me to ask the Pakistan Cricket Board not to consider them for the rest of the series because they wanted to clear their name and honour. Accordingly, I conveyed their requset to PCB chief Ijaz Butt who accepted it but all of a sudden the ICC came out with the notice," he said.
The Pakistan High Commissioner was particularly critical of ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat and President Sharad Pawar, saying he sensed a "conspiracy" behind the suspensions. "When Lorgat came to me I told him that the players themselves had opted out and how ECB chairman Giles Clarke was happy with their decision.
Pakistan lashes out at ICC for suspending trio
"I heard him (Lorgat) talking to Pawar. I don''t know what transpired between them but immediately after that he left my office and prepared a 5-page notice and handed it to the players.
There seems to be a conspiracy to keep Pakistan out," Hasan said. "He (Lorgat) should have that courage to tell me that he was serving notices to the players.
" "That shows how inefficient the ICC is. They did not hold any inquiry, do independent investigation.
ICC is trying to make Pakistan a scapegoat because it is not able to run cricket efficiently," he said in a scathing attack on the world body. Stating that the International Cricket Council had no authority to punish the players without conducting an independent inquiry, Hasan said if required Pakistan will take legal action against the game''s supreme body.
"Pending an inquiry they (ICC) cannot take any action. Till the investigations of London''s metropolitan police and the Scotland Yard are over, neither PCB not ICC can take any action against the players," he said.
"We have got the legal option open and we are looking into it," Hasan added.
Cash used in the 150,000-pound Lord's Test betting scandal has been reportedly found in the belongings of Pakistan skipper Salman Butt.
According to The Sun, the Scotland Yard police would interrogate Butt today over how the notes - said to have been marked - were found in his hotel room and his locker at Lord's.
Detectives believe that it is part of the 150,000 pounds handed over by News of The World undercover reporter to London-based agent Mazhar Majeed, the alleged mastermind of the betting racket.
The cash is undergoing forensic testing to prove its origins.
In the most sensational sporting scandal ever, it has been claimed that Pakistan fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif had delivered three 'no-balls' to order.
According to The News of the World, that they have footage of Majeed accepting money, and in return, he detailed what would happen and when on the field of play next day.
It also claims that Majeed had identified Butt as the ringleader.
He also named wicket keeper Kamran Akmal, and a total of seven corrupt cricketers.
Sep 3 (IANS) The three Pakistani cricketers, who are at the centre of an alleged betting scam, were provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) Thursday night after being charged under the anti-corruption code.
After a day that began with the Pakistan Cricket Board agreeing to omit the players from the team for the rest of the England tour, and the Pakistan high commissioner saying the newspaper claims were a "set-up", the ICC suspended the three pending a tribunal, The Guardian reported.
Outside the west London hotel in which the tainted trio -- Test captain Salman Butt and pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- are also staying, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat provided the swift action.
"We will not tolerate corruption in cricket - simple as that. We must be decisive with such matters and, if proven, these offences carry serious penalties up to a life ban," he was quoted as saying by the paper.
"The ICC will do everything possible to keep such conduct out of the game and we will stop at nothing to protect the sport's integrity. While we believe the problem is not widespread, we must always be vigilant. It is important, however, that we do not pre-judge the guilt of these three players. That is for the independent tribunal alone to decide."
Under tougher new rules brought in last year by the ICC, the players can be suspended provisionally ahead of any hearing if it is in the interests of the game.
The row was triggered by allegations in the News of the World that the three had agreed to bowl no-balls in specific overs of last week's fourth Test at Lord's in return for money.
The charges were announced after officials from the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) spent the afternoon at Scotland Yard viewing evidence and seeking police go-ahead. The police are conducting a parallel criminal inquiry.
The three players will Friday be interviewed under police caution for the first time. Earlier they had agreed to withdraw from the rest of the tour citing the "mental torture" they had been placed under by the allegations. They protested their innocence and the Pakistani high commissioner suggested they might have been "set up" by the News of the World.
Three tainted Pakistani cricketers suspended by ICC
ICC investigators, who had been examining spot-fixing allegations against Pakistan for some time, have been in London since Monday. Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the former Northern Ireland police chief who was appointed chairman of the ACSU three months ago, arrived from Abu Dhabi to join them, while its chief investigator, Ravi Sawani, met police.
But despite withdrawing the players from the tour, following pressure behind the scenes from the England and Wales Cricket Board and the sport's global governing body, the Pakistan camp remained bullish.
Pakistan's High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan claimed the players had been "set up" by the News of the World. Asked if they had been framed, he answered "yes" and suggested the newspaper's video evidence could have been filmed after the contentious no-balls had been bowled.
The News of the World said it "refuses to respond to such ludicrous allegations". The newspaper is understood to be preparing further revelations for Sunday.
Trio opted out due to mental torture
London: Pakistan's High Commissioner in the UK Wajid S Hasan has said that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir were not dropped for the series against England but opted out due to the "mental torture" they are facing after being accused of involvement in the 'spot-fixing' scandal.
After meeting the three at the Pakistan High Commission, Hasan defended the players and insisted that they remain innocent until proven guilty.
"We are extremely disturbed with what has happened in the past one week. They have maintained that they are innocent and on account of the mental torture that has hugely affected them, they are not in the right frame of mind to play any further," Hasan told reporters here.
"Therefore, they have requested the Pakistan Cricket Board not to consider them for the rest of the matches until their names are cleared," he added.
Hasan also rejected reports that the players are due to be grilled by the Scotland Yard and said that the three would remain in England for the investigations.
"The investigations are on and we will have to wait for the reports. There are no meetings with the Scotland Yard. They have voluntarily asked for their names not be included in the team. They will definitely remain in England," he said.
Asked whether the passports of the three players had been confiscated by the Scotland Yard, Hasan said, "Their passports are with the team manager."
Hasan said the players morale is low but they would not run away from the investigations.
"They are here, they are not running away. They are innocent and they are defending their innocence. They are upright young men, in fact one of them (Mohammad Aamir) created a record of taking 50 wickets in the shortest time. We will give them whatever support they might need," he said.
"Serious charges have been levelled against them and they have to defend themselves. They will even go to court to for that. There have been such incidents in the past. You remember what happened between Imran Khan and Ian Botham, Imran won the case," he added referring to a 1996 instance when Imran defended himself in a libel action brought by Botham and Allan Lamb over ball-tampering."
Karachi: Even as Pakistan Manager Yawar Saeed announced end of England tour for the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, sports minister Aijaz Jakhrani on Thursday said the players may play the one-day series.
Jakhrani was also not keen to use the word 'dropped' and said the trio was just 'unavailable' to play in the Twenty20 series against England.
Jakhrani said the three players, who allegedly took money from a bookie to bowl no balls during the Lord's Test against England last week, will be in London to "cooperate" with the Scotland Yard's investigation into the 'spot-fixing' scandal.
"They are not playing because they have probably gone to answer the investigating team. They are not at the venue where the matches are being held, so they would not be playing. Probably they will not play Twenty20 matches but they might be back for the one-dayers," Jakhrani said.
"The information that I have received is that they have gone to London to answer some questions and that is why they are not playing in the Twenty20 matches," he added.
Saeed though had said a little while ago that they will seek replacement of the players after the T20 series, which will begin on Sunday.
The Minister said action against players would be taken only if the three are proved guilty by the Scotland Yard.
"This has been the stance of the government. We are waiting for investigations reports to come, only then we will decide on taking action," he said.
The allegations have not been proved and the charges have not been pressed yet. We will not take any action until the charges are proved," he said.
Asked whether the Scotland Yard had given any evidence of the players' involvement in the scandal that has plunged the game into a crisis, Jakhrani said "concrete proof" was yet to be given.
"At the moment I have been told that there is no clear evidence that has been given by the Scotland Yard. They haven't shown anything. We all are waiting for the investigation report to come," he said.
"After that, we will be in a position to say whether it is spot-fixing, match-fixing or a conspiracy because there are reports that there has been a conspiracy against young talent Mohammad Aamer," he said.
Taunton: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ruled out the tainted trio of captain Salman Butt and pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer for the rest of England tour with team manager Yawar Saeed declaring that reinforcements will be called next week.
This stiff action from the PCB is surely a u-turn from all the statements that Chairman Ijaz Butt has been making earlier. Constant pressure from the ICC and the ECB has made sure that the PCB retracted from their defiant stand of protecting the maligned Pakistan players and took some solid action. Butt, Asif and Amir shall now return to Pakistan.
Earlier, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt hadsaid that the three Pakistan cricketers facing 'spot-fixing' allegations could face England in the ODI series as long as they are not charged.
Captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif have been implicated in the scandal following a sting operation by British tabloid 'News of The World'.
"They will miss the first match and then we will see what will happens in the future. They will be free to play immediately, not just in the one-day series," The BBC quoted Butt, as saying.
"The squad will remain what is here this morning for the T20 matches. Once we play these two Twenty20 game, we will ask for replacements for the one-day matches," Yawar told reporters here at the County Ground just before the start of Pakistan's practice match against Somerset here.
Yawar, however, rejected the impression that the three players have been suspended.
"As far as we are concerned unless they are charged they are free to do whatever they want," he added.
Butt further claimed that the media has exaggerated the furore, which has aggravated the public outcry against the Pakistan team.
"No, they've not been suspended," he said but did not give any explanation.
"We have 13. We will get three more to make it 16 again for the five ODIs," he said when asked why the three players will not be a part of the squad any more if they have not been suspended.
Yawar said his team will continue with the assignment without the trio, who are their key players. "One has to play without a lot of guys. Lot of great guys have come and gone."
Yawar didn't disclose as to which players will be called from Pakistan.
"The selectors will decide. We will ask them who we need and they will take a decision," he said.
"The initial first couple of days they were saying match-fixing, match- fixing, match-fixing and now all of a sudden the tune is spot-fixing, spot-fixing, spot-fixing without telling the public what that is," Butt said.
Pak ‘spot-fixers’ may face England in ODI series if not ‘charged’: PCB boss
This action by the PCB has come almost a 100 hours after the biggest cricket expose done by News of the World through their sting operation. There was high drama outside the Pakistan High Commission early in the morning at London with media kept at bay in a closed-door meeting. Then came the official announcement that the trio of Salman Butt, Md Asif and Md Amir have all been dropped but the big point here as well is that they haven't been suspended.
News of The World has alleged that several Pakistan players were part of a spot-fixing scam to bowl deliberate 'no-balls' at precise points in the Lord's Test against England.
Over the last 4 days, there has been intense global scrutiny on the whole drama that had engulfed the game of cricket. Former cricketers had come up with their opinions and these ranged from life bans to suspensions to calling off the ongoing series between the two nations. The PCB had relented all the pressure till early this morning when Ijaz Butt had firmly stood by the 'tainted' cricketers.
There has been mixed reaction coming in so far especially from Pakistan. The Sports Ministry appreciated the PCB for the step while some even pointed there could be some kind of backlash as the allegations were not proved yet.
Meanwhile, the trio will miss today's practice match against Somerset, as they are scheduled to meet the PCB Chairman and Pakistan's Ambassador to UK in London.
Source: IANS/India Syndicate
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