The International Cricket Council's (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit chief Sir Ronnie Flanagan yesterday praised the media for exposing the spot fixing scam in which three Pakistani players ufffd Salman Butt, Mohd Asif and Mohd Amir ufffd were banned on Saturday by an independent tribunal from participating in any form of cricket
The International Cricket Council's (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit chief Sir Ronnie Flanagan yesterday praised the media for exposing the spot fixing scam in which three Pakistani players ufffd Salman Butt, Mohd Asif and Mohd Amir ufffd were banned on Saturday by an independent tribunal from participating in any form of cricket.
Speaking to MiD DAY on the sidelines of a media conference also attended by the ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, Flanagan said, "I commend News of the World and its staff who gave us a platform to launch further investigation and collect evidence on which the tribunal based its decision."
The former Northern Ireland chief constable, who in last July succeeded Lord Paul Condon in the ICC post, said, "Once we got the lead, the case was handled by Scotland Yard till its conclusion."
Lorgat expressed satisfaction for successfully convicting the trio. "It will be a strong deterrent to other players who may be tempted to act in a way that threatens the integrity of the game in the future. We do not want to see such incidents in the game. We are serious about maintaining and protecting ICC's integrity. Corruption in cricket has never been and will never be tolerated. I reiterate our zero tolerance approach," Lorgat said. The trio were banned for 10, seven and five years from any involvement in cricket for their acts of deliberately bowling no-balls at the behest of British-based betting agent. They will have to participate in a programme of anti-corruption education under the auspices of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
The commencement of each of the bans imposed on the three cricketers will be backdated to September 2, 2010 to include the period of provisional suspension already served by them.
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