Butt is hoping his 10-year ban will be lifted by CAS
Disgraced former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has made a desperate plea to resume his international career as he prepares to appeal against the 10-year ban the International Cricket Council (ICC) slapped him with after he was found guilty of match-fixing during a Test match against England in 2010.
Butt, who is known to be the ringleader of the whole match-fixing operation, has the possibility of getting five of his years suspended, while pace bowler Mohammad Asif, who received a seven-year ban for his role in the match-fixing scandal with two of them being suspended, are both at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland to make a last-ditch attempt to get their bans lifted.
“It may be easy for some people to say that a five-year ban from cricket is all right but what they don’t realise is that for a sportsman like me – this is like a lifetime ban,” Butt said in a statement through his lawyer. “Cricket is my life and every single day that has passed has been so painful because I have not been able to play. All I want is an opportunity to get back into cricket whilst I am still young and I can still play well.”
Unlike normal trials, CAS trials are held in private and no members of the public or media are allowed inside during the hearing.
Butt and Asif’s lawyers, along with the ICC lawyers will present their arguments in front of a three-member arbitrators panel, one of which includes the current president of CAS.
Butt is being represented by Yasin Patel, a London-based barrister, who also fought his match-fixing case heard in the London courts.
“We are appealing the sanctions that were imposed upon us and they should not have been so high,” Patel said.
Formed in 1983, CAS is considered to be the place of final appeal for all sportsmen appealing against any sort of dispute.
CAS do not have the power to overrule the decisions made in the London courts, but do have the power to overturn ICC sanctions since they are part of the appeal system laid down in the ICC anti-corruption code.
If the bans were to be lowered, it is highly unlikely that the ICC will receive an opportunity to counter-appeal.
Meanwhile, pace bowler Mohammad Amir, who was the third player to be indicted in the sting operation launched by the now defunct News of the World has decided not to appeal against his five-year ban, which means that he will only be allowed to return to action in September 2015.
The ICC bans do not give players the permission to participate in any match, whether it be at the international, domestic or club level.
All three players were also given prison sentences by the London courts for the seriousness of their crimes.
Butt served only seven months of a 30-month sentence, Asif only served half of his year-long sentence and Amir spent three months in a young offenders’ institution after admitting to match-fixing during his pre-trial hearing.