Haroon Lorgat, the ICC Chief Executive, made the following statement in
relation to today's developments in the criminal proceedings at
Southwark Crown Court in London.Speaking in Dubai, Mr Lorgat said: "The ICC has been closely following
the criminal trial at Southwark Crown Court in England over the past few
weeks. We note that the jury has found Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif
guilty of the criminal offences with which they were charged and also
that Mohammad Amir had pleaded guilty to the criminal offences with
which he was charged. At this stage, I am unable to comment on the
criminal proceedings also brought against the players' agent, Mazhar
Majeed."These outcomes appear to be consistent with the findings of the
independent anti-corruption tribunal which was appointed earlier this
year to hear charges brought against the three players by the ICC under
our own Anti-Corruption Code. As you all know, those proceedings
ultimately resulted in the three players being found guilty of offences
under the Anti-Corruption Code and they were accordingly suspended from
all forms of cricket for five, seven and ten years respectively. To be
clear, the developments in the English criminal courts will have no
impact upon those periods of suspension, which will remain in full force
and effect.'The ICC takes no pleasure from the fact that these players stepped
outside not only the laws of the game but also the criminal laws of the
country in which they were participating. In addition to constituting
offences under the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code, for which sporting
sanctions have been imposed, such conduct has now been shown to
constitute criminal behaviour for which serious criminal sanctions can
also be imposed. Of course, we note that the Judge is yet to determine
the appropriate sentence for each of the three players so I do not
comment further in that regard, but we hope that this verdict is seen as
a further warning to any individual who might, for whatever reason, be
tempted to engage in corrupt activity within our sport."I am satisfied that we have worked closely with the Crown Prosecution
Service and Metropolitan Police throughout this entire process, and I
believe that this case has shown that it is possible for criminal
authorities and sports bodies to cooperate with each other, in difficult
circumstances, in the best interests of the sport and the public at
large."I would reiterate, as I have on every occasion that I have spoken on
this matter, that the ICC has a zero-tolerance attitude towards
corruption and that we will use everything within our power to ensure
that any suggestion of corrupt activity within our game is
comprehensively investigated and, where appropriate, robustly
prosecuted. We have always said that we will continue to explore every
possible avenue to ensure that cricket is free from corrupt activity.
That is precisely what we have done in this case.
