The purpose of the hearing is not to decide whether or not the players are guilty, but whether or not they should be allowed to play on while cricket's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit investigates the charges against them.
Mohammad Asif, the third player implicated in the News Of The World's investigation into deliberate no-balls, will not be present as he has already withdrawn his appeal.
"I am pretty sure to be cleared," Butt said on Wednesday. "It has been annoying for me because these kind of allegations have not only brought defamation, but as well it is career-threatening. Such things do come in your life but you have to stand up and face them." The original story, which broke during the final stages of the Lord's Test in August, gained credence from the video footage of Mazhar Majeed – a businessman and agent who was photographed with the Pakistani players – counting out stacks of money.
Majeed was later arrested, along with his wife and brother, on charges of financial irregularities. Yesterday, Butt admitted that he had worked with Majeed, but claimed that the video evidence was unreliable because of selective editing.
"Majeed is not somebody who is an agent for me because he has been there even before I was there [playing international cricket]," Butt said. "These are the people who deal with the marketing side of players and the promotional stuff and they also make money out of it.
"This is what is being done in the sporting arena around the world and this is not something that came up with Salman Butt.
"I do not want to comment on the News of the World," he added, "because everybody knows what kind of paper it is. Everybody knows about its reputation across the world."
Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding the Indian Premier League deepened yesterday when Kochi – one of two new franchises due to join the league next year – was told to sort out the arguments over its ownership within the next 30 days, or be expelled from the competition.
If Kochi cannot resolve the disputes between its owners, who include at least five different companies, it will end up in the same position as the Rajasthan Royals and the Kings XI Punjab.
These two teams have already been ejected, leaving the number of teams in the IPL at eight rather than the intended 10. However, the Royals were reported to have filed a petition of protest to the Mumbai High Court last night.
The murky ructions within the IPL have caused huge damage to the tournament's reputation since April, when its former commissioner, Lalit Modi, posted a message on his Twitter page questioning the probity of Kochi's ownership structure.
Since then, Modi has been stripped of his title, and now finds himself under investigation by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Mohammad Asif, the third player implicated in the News Of The World's investigation into deliberate no-balls, will not be present as he has already withdrawn his appeal.
"I am pretty sure to be cleared," Butt said on Wednesday. "It has been annoying for me because these kind of allegations have not only brought defamation, but as well it is career-threatening. Such things do come in your life but you have to stand up and face them." The original story, which broke during the final stages of the Lord's Test in August, gained credence from the video footage of Mazhar Majeed – a businessman and agent who was photographed with the Pakistani players – counting out stacks of money.
Majeed was later arrested, along with his wife and brother, on charges of financial irregularities. Yesterday, Butt admitted that he had worked with Majeed, but claimed that the video evidence was unreliable because of selective editing.
"Majeed is not somebody who is an agent for me because he has been there even before I was there [playing international cricket]," Butt said. "These are the people who deal with the marketing side of players and the promotional stuff and they also make money out of it.
"This is what is being done in the sporting arena around the world and this is not something that came up with Salman Butt.
"I do not want to comment on the News of the World," he added, "because everybody knows what kind of paper it is. Everybody knows about its reputation across the world."
Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding the Indian Premier League deepened yesterday when Kochi – one of two new franchises due to join the league next year – was told to sort out the arguments over its ownership within the next 30 days, or be expelled from the competition.
If Kochi cannot resolve the disputes between its owners, who include at least five different companies, it will end up in the same position as the Rajasthan Royals and the Kings XI Punjab.
These two teams have already been ejected, leaving the number of teams in the IPL at eight rather than the intended 10. However, the Royals were reported to have filed a petition of protest to the Mumbai High Court last night.
The murky ructions within the IPL have caused huge damage to the tournament's reputation since April, when its former commissioner, Lalit Modi, posted a message on his Twitter page questioning the probity of Kochi's ownership structure.
Since then, Modi has been stripped of his title, and now finds himself under investigation by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
