(Reuters) – Disgraced Pakistan pace bowler Mohammad Asif lost an appeal yesterday against a 2011 conviction for spot-fixing that ended his international cricket career.
In a ruling, three judges sitting at the London Court of Appeal said they were “not persuaded that there are any grounds, arguable or otherwise, for attacking the safety of the convictions of this applicant.
“The renewed applications are accordingly dismissed.”
Spot-fixing involves a player, or players, agreeing to perform to order at certain moments during a match – by deliberately bowling wides for example – in return for payment from illegal betting syndicates.Asif, 30, was released from prison in May last year after serving half of a one-year term following his sentencing for corruption and cheating. He was also banned for seven years, two of them suspended.
His team mates Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, and Mohammad Amir were also handed custodial sentences and banned for a minimum of five years after the ‘cash for no-balls’ scandal that engulfed Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.
Asif and Butt, who served seven months in jail, also lost appeals against the bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in April.
Amir, who did not appeal to CAS, lost a challenge brought with Butt at the Court of Appeal in 2011. All three players have since returned to Pakistan.
