• Tribunal chaired by Michael Beloff QC begins today
• Chairman hopeful of early resolution in Qatar hearing
The Pakistan cricketers at the centre of last year's spot-fixing allegations could find out their fates by next Tuesday. The chairman of the independent tribunal that will decide the fate of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt said today that he hoped for a quick decision.
The three players, who face a range of charges under the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption code, will appear before the three-person tribunal as part of a six-day hearing that begins tomorrow in Doha, Qatar.
Chaired by Michael Beloff QC, it will seek to reach a definitive verdict on the allegations of spot fixing during the fourth Test at Lord's that blighted Pakistan's tour of England last summer after they were revealed by the News of the World.
After they were accused of conspiring to deliberately bowl no balls at specific points of the match, all three were provisionally suspended by the ICC.
Butt and Amir failed in October in a bid to get the provisional suspension lifted, while Butt also failed in a subsequent attempt to have the hearing postponed.
"The parties have helpfully exchanged detailed submissions in advance of the hearing to seek to identify the issues that are in dispute in these proceedings," Beloff said today
"The procedure for the hearing, it has been agreed by all parties and approved by me. It is designed to ensure that all parties can be satisfied that they have been given a full and fair opportunity to present their evidence and advance their submissions."
The ICC, which has been gathering evidence since formally charging the three on 2 September last year, will make opening statements, presenting its case against each player in turn. It will then present its evidence, including witnesses who will appear in person and via telephone, each of whom will also be cross-examined by lawyers for the players and members of the tribunal.
The players will then present their defences, submitting their own evidence and witnesses. Beloff did not guarantee to come to a decision by next Tuesday, the last scheduled day of the hearing, but said he would do so if practicable.
All three players, who have protested their innocence, face the prospect of lengthy bans if found guilty.
The ICC chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, said last month that the ICC had "worked hard at collecting all the evidence that we would require to make the charges stand".
Of the potential punishments, he said: "We would want to be proportional but at the same time we do not want to show any leniency. These are severe issues and integrity of the game is absolutely fundamental and we would not want to tolerate any of that in the sport."
The tribunal will go ahead despite the fact that the Crown Prosecution Service has yet to reach a decision on whether to press charges against the three men under English law, although it has now received a full file of evidence from the police.
"The CPS special crime division is reviewing a file of evidence in relation to allegations of match-fixing by Pakistani cricketers," a spokesman said. "We are not awaiting any further substantial evidence from the police at this time and will make a decision in due course."
