Pakistani cricketers, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were handed down sentences at the Southwark Crown Court in London today.
Salman Butt is to get 30 months of prison time as the judge holds him responsible for ‘corrupting Amir’ while Mohammad Asif has been handed a one-year sentence and Amir will be detained for six months at the Young Offenders Institution.
In your opinion, is this a fair verdict?
More importantly, will this discourage players from indulging in corrupt practices in cricket?
Dawn.com invites its readers to give their views and suggestions.
The punishments are undoubtedly harsh. Pak media should respect the privacy of their families. Their families deserve sympathy.They are sons of the land. Let’s all control ourselves and not behave like uncivilised people.
The got what they deserved! I am very happy with the verdict! As far as Kamran Akmal is concerned he will get his due too, I am sure of it! This should be a new beginning for Pakistani Cricket!
they deserve what they did.
They deserve more punishment. They have brought disgrace to Pakistan.
they were corrupt and they got what they deserved,what we must not forget here is that there are still others who were involved with these three in the scam,kamran akmal,wahab riaz and many more and if these crooks are allowed to play again,Pakistan will very soon face the same kind of humiliation again,there is no doubt about it.You cannot stop a theif from stealing.Let the PCB ban all players who have been tainted by allegations of corruption.
Still lot many at large; what about them….
It’s all a futile effort if the opportunity is not used to root out match fixing corruption from cricket. Further investigation must be done to book past and present culprits still involved in this shameful game; and people in management/administration must also be brought in the ambit..
Whether they were involved in spot fixing or not, the matter is not as big to end someone’s career. I agree that they have done something very bad and I agree that there should be punishment, but not the kind that was given. This is like killing someone for stealing. Those who were involved in match fixing (not spot fixing but match fixing) did not get such punishments (yes I remember Salim Malik was banned for life).
Again, I agree they should be punished but ending someone career and sending to jail for throwing a no ball is too much in my opinion.
I wonder if they had gotten the same sentence if they were not Pakistanis. I think Pakistan government should take a stance and get them out of this mess. As for PCB, I think they shoud stay quiet because otherwise they will actually have to do something which means first figuring out what to do and then doing it. It is best if PCB stays quiet.
no no…its like amputing the hands for stealing.
now i guess u can understand better
do not overlook the fact that they were fixing every single match,its just that they got caught this once.ICC investigation is going to uncover this and also many more who are habitual fixers.The case in point is that of Akmal brothers,Wahab Riaz and others.These guys had infected the whole team.They should never be considered for selection.
These three players got the pinishment they deserve. This should serve as a deterrent for any future similar activities.
However, PCB should flush out its organization of any such micreants and should apply similar punishments in the future to any personnel involved in any such activities without regard to their positions within PCB.
its shame that we are feeling sympathy for those corrupt and disgraceful people who did not think for a while that complete nation is affected for any such deed, i think if they can sell their motherland for money they can do same for money anything even their own family.
Blaming and naming a certain indvidual responsible for this shameful plot in the Pakistani cricket, in the past or in the present, does not make much sense, if you look at the very fabric of the society today. Can anyone name an institution, a state-backed organisation or an enterprise, even sports and tourism, that is immune to corruption and degeneration of a civic morality?
The punishment is too less. Match fixing and bookies will continue their business, no one can help. Pakistan team still have few players who need to be axed and fixed especially Akmal Bros or Pakistan may lose Cricket forever.
Society try to tolerate corruption in cricket and other fields which encourage the people to indulge in this dirty business. There should be no excuse to justify such shameful acts and people show zero tolerance to towards it irrespective of the status of the person.
they are responsible for what they did, and they should be left alone, if we keep backing up these kind of corrupt people, more of our hero will turn to be like them. so the punishment is required.
i wish and hope PCB will punish this people once they are back for UK, we should make them an example.
i have no sympathy for these guys.
LET THIS BE THE BEGINING OF A CLEAN_UP OF CORRUPTION IN CRICKET.
Anyone involved in corruption should be apprehended. However following should be considered;
1) Selective justice should be avoided and disciplinary action should be taken across the board involving players belonging to all the teams.
2) Punishment once given after thorough investigation should not be reduced on any pretext.
3) Code of conduct should be made in which players with even slight suspicion should never be allowed to represent their country until the suspicion is proved wrong.
4) ICC should made a compulsion that nepotism should be avoided while making cricket board chairman.
Dear Pakistani friends.
Please give emotional support to the families of the cricketers. Already they must be going through a lot for no fault of theirs. Pakistani Govt please give security to them. When the cricketers come out of prisons please don’t be too harsh on them . See some ways to rehabiliate them. 1 punishment for 1 mistake is enough. I feel very sad for Amir especially. Feltham is not a good place to live.
the verdict is a wellcome gesture towards curbing unacceptable practices in gentlemens’ game. This verdict will make fixer cautious beforing entagling into cricketing business. Nevertheless, this will pose a challenge to ICC’s credibility and neutrality in taking the fixing making to task in across the board . Pakistani players have provided opportunity ICC to ensure the transparency and fairness in the grame.Added to that, pakistani cricket board would strenghren its transparency mechanisms in wake of this incident.
The decision must be appreciated in the larger interest of game.However some further steps must be taken.Government should look into this matter and conduct an inquiry. Not only players but also PCB administrators and tour officials must be questioned.All those officials and players whose names came to surface during the case,should be interrogated.
Court decision is absolutely fair and justified. Sends a message to the ccricketers of the palying nations that the mafia cannot gaurantte you impunity. You will pay a price.
I would however like to add that its not the players who initiate this curruption there is the mafia pressure, fear and the lure of glittering gold that led these boys to disgrace and a bunk in the slammer.
I guess there are more shameful heads rolling in pcb they be should be dealt with iron heand
In my opinion, the involved players should be thankful to Judge Cooke for giving a mild punishment for the crime they have committed. The gentleman’s game’s image as well as Pakistan’s image has been tarnished.
Betting and fixing matches has been going in the world of sports since times immemorial and attempt
should be maid to “clean” all sports from all ill-doings and damaging the reputation of sports concerned.
Our trio has been given enough time to come clean and I feel the trial was very genuine. Even politics should not come in sports.
New and new ways are designed for spot and match fixing. So the vigilant committee should be on the guard at all times.
Have followed the trial closely, the evidence against Butt is substantial to convict him. However, with Asif, there is no record of any texts or recordings of any phone conversation and neither was there any money found!! On what basis has the jury convicted him? Yes, he had tested twice for nandrolene, caught and jailed for a carry has in his wallet….the lawyers should appeal against this verdict.
Kamran Akmal needs to be investigated thoroughly and if you watch the Sydney test, the runout and the miss stumping were very suspicious…This is after dropping Hussey four times…
Also there was a one day innings that Umar Akmal played incredibly slowly just blocking away overs in the Summer of 2010 here in England. When Butt allegedly told Mazhar during lunch that there is player X who owns so many homes that his salary could not even buy him one…he was referring to Kamaran Akmal buying numerous home in Lahore. The biggest fish to be caught is Kamran Akmal. However, i am quite confident that Asif stands a strong chance on winning an appeal
This should have happened long ago to several players. Look at our Mohammad Azharuddin, he is a law maker now in Indian Parliament.
If we don’t set our house in order now the day is not far when all other teams will refuse to play Pakistan inside the country or abroad. I know no one is perfectly clean but having been caught out in the open we should clean up first and then challenge others with pride…… If there is any left now.
Amir should have been assigned community service, not jail. Its too ealy in his life to be in jail. He could have been an anti betting ambassador for the young cricketing guns