Durban, Nov 3 : Australian skipper Michael Clarke reckons that the Southwark Crown Court’s spot-fixing trial verdict that has left Pakistan trio Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir facing prison sentences would send a strong message to cheats.
“There is no place in any sport for match fixing of any kind and the verdicts handed down in the UK should act as a strong deterrent for any player or administrator that tries to denigrate our great game,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Clarke, as saying.
“While today’s proceedings are a step in the right direction, it is hugely important that the authorities continue to put processes in place to rid the game of match fixing forever,” he added.
The spot-fixing controversy centres on allegations that Butt, Asif and Mohammad Amir took bribes from a bookmaker, Mazhar Majeed, to deliberately under-perform at certain times in the 2010 Lord’s Test against England.
Undercover reporters from News of the World, led by Mazher Mahmood, had secretly video-taped Majeed accepting money and informing the reporters that Asif and Amir would deliberately bowl no-balls at specific points in an over.
This information could have been used by gamblers to place bets.
In response to these allegations, Scotland Yard arrested Majeed on the charge of match-fixing.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned Butt, Asif and Amir for terms of between five and ten years. (ANI)
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