It has been decided by the lawyers representing the suspended skipper of the Pakistan cricket team Salman Butt, in the alleged spot-fixing scandal, to file a protest letter against Chief Executive ICC; Haroon Lorgat.
The said letter will address the three-man independent tribunal of the ICC which is going to hold the hearing upon the issue, in Doha in January.
Disclosing the details of the matter, Aftab Gul, a lawyer from Butt’s legal team told the reporters about their plans to dispatch a letter to the tribunal in the coming few days. The letter will draw the attention, of the concerned authorities, to the recent statement that the ICC chief made about the case.
A few days back, while talking to the reporters, Lorgat had said that it would disappoint him if ICC anti-corruption unit is unable to prove the charges against the suspended trio from Pakistan; comprising of Muhammad Aamir, Muhammad Asif and the Skipper Salman Butt.
Supporting his earlier statement, while talking to an international news channel, Lorgat said, “We have worked hard at collecting all the evidence that we would require to make the charges stand.”
The 3-man tribunal will be headed by Michael Beloff, who also happens to be the chairman of ICC code of conduct commission. The other two members include Justice Albie Sachs from South Africa and Sharad Rao from Kenya.
As Lorgat was reported to have said that ICC was not ready to show any leniency in the case, Gul had regarded those remarks as pressure building tactics before the hearing could actually take place. “He basically is already trying to rule these players guilty, although, the charges brought against them have yet to be proven by the ICC’s ACU. We will ask the independent tribunal to take up the matter with Lorgat, who, as ICC CEO, has to remain neutral and avoid giving statements on the case which is yet to be decided. Such statements have caused grievance to my client who is yet to be proven guilty” said Gul.
Butt has not been leaving any stone unturned to prove himself innocent. In order to present his case more professionally, he has now hired Aitzaz Ahsan, one of top lawyers from Pakistan along with the legal team which has been preparing his case hard for the hearing, which is to be held in Doha and which is going to decide the future of the trio into the sport. If the verdict goes against them, the players will reserve the right to challenge the verdict of the 3-man Tribunal, at the Court for Arbitration for Sport.
