Pakistan spot-fixing trial: these sentences provide almost no deterrent to the match-fixers

Banned: Salman Butt has been banned for 10 years for spot-fixing, but five years of his sentence have been suspendedPhoto: REUTERS
By Scyld Berry9:25PM GMT 05 Feb 2011

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Even if their sentences are not reduced on appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Mohammad Amir will only be 23, Mohammad Asif 32, and Salman Butt 31 when those sentences expire in September 2015 provided they keep their noses clean in the meantime.
So there is hope for them: hope that they can return to the international cricket field, although as a pace bowler and the oldest of the three, Asif has much less of a chance than the other two.
It may well be that in this sentencing the influence of Justice Albie Sachs is at work. Having been maimed by a bomb planted by the operatives of Apartheid South Africa, he has been subsequently renowned for his quality of mercy.
But the unofficial impression given by the International Cricket Council after the Doha verdict was that the sports governing body was not overjoyed by these sentences far from it.
The verdicts had been clear: all three Pakistan players had been found guilty under the anti-corruption code of the most serious offence in the game. Yet they could all be playing again in 4 years from now as their suspensions started last September.


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