LONDON : Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif
and agent Mazhar Majeed were awarded sentences on Thursday in Britain
for their role in fixing parts of a Test match against England.Cricket
agent Majeed, 36, from Croydon in south London, was handed the harshest
penalty with a sentence of two years and eight months by Judge Jeremy
Cooke at London's Southwark Crown Court.Pakistan former Test
captain Salman Butt, 27, received 30 months, fast bowler Mohammad Asif,
28, received one year in jail and 19-year-old Mohammad Amir was
sentenced to 6 months detention at Feltham Young Offenders institution."These
offences, regardless of pleas, are so serious that only a sentence of
imprisonment will suffice," Cooke told the four in court.He added: "Each of you will serve half the time imposed in custody and then be released on licence."As
he was led from the dock, Butt looked distant and aghast. Amir showed
little reaction as he collected his rucksack, while Asif nodded to a
friend in the public gallery before being the last to disappear down to
the cells.Butt and Asif were found guilty on Tuesday of
deliberately bowling three no-balls during the Lord's Test in August
2010 as part of a "spot-fixing" betting scam uncovered by Rupert
Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World.Amir and Majeed had already pleaded guilty to involvement in the scam.The judge said the players had once been regarded as heroes but had betrayed their followers in Pakistan."In
Pakistan, where cricket is the national sport, the ordinary follower of
the national team feels betrayed by your activities," he said."You,
Butt, Asif and Amer have let down all your supporters and followers of
the game." The international game had also been tarnished by the
scandal, he added."Now, whenever people look back on a
surprising event in a game or a surprising result or whenever, in the
future, there are surprising events or results, followers of the game
who paid good money... will be led to wonder whether there has been a
fix," the judge said."What was to be honest, sporting competition may not be such at all.Players were also ordered to pay compensation towards cost of prosecution. Butt - £30,937, Asif - £8120 and Amir £9389.
