International sports, cricket
Doha, Qatar, (GenevaLunch)- The Anti-Corruption Tribunal of the International Cricket Council (ICC) handed out long bans to the three Pakistani players involved in spot-fixing during the 2010 Tests against England, 5 February. Captain Salman Butt was banned for 10 years, five of which are suspended. Mohammad Asif for seven years, two suspended, and Mohammad Amir for five years.
The charges include deliberately bowling “no-balls,” the equivalent of foot faults, and allowing “maiden overs” in which the batsman does not score any runs.
The cheating was linked to a massive betting scam, uncovered by UK tabloid The News of the World. Some cricketers have said the trio should have been banned for life but there is also some sympathy for 18-year-old fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who looked one of the best young players before the scandal broke.
The trio, along with agent Mazhar Majeed are also likely to face criminal charges of corruption.
Links to other sites: Yahoo Cricket, Times of India, Telegraph
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A referee who suspended in a football betting investigation has been cleared, reports the Canadian Press. Referee Anton Genov of Bulgaria was suspended by the Nyon-based Uefa (European football federation) after it spotted irregular betting patterns in a 14 November match between Macedonia and Canada, But Fifa, the Zurich-based international football body which has been working for the past six months with an early warning system, says it has found no evidence of suspicious bets.
