Updated 15.40
PAKISTANI CRICKETERS Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif have been found guilty of involvement in a match-fixing betting scam.
A jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court unanimously agreed that the pair were guilty of a conspiracy to cheat during a test match between England and Pakistan at Lord’s last year.
A 10-2 majority of jurors also found Butt, the country’s former Test captain, and Asif guilty on separate charges of a conspiracy to accept corrupt payments.
A third defendant, bowler Mohammed Amir, pled guilty to both charges on 16 September although this detail was not revealed until this afternoon.
In August 2010, an undercover investigation by the News of the World revealed that the players were willing to deliberately bowl “no-balls” in return for secret payments.
Sports agent Mazhar Majeed was filmed accepting £150,000 in cash after promising that he could have the trio rig the match at certain points, allowing criminal betting rings to rake in huge profits.
The players’ bail was extended pending a sentencing hearing which is expected to begin tomorrow.
