KARACHI, (Reuters) – Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt was jeered at Lahore Airport yesterday on his return home from London for the first time since the spot-fixing scandal engulfed the Pakistan team.
Butt’s emergence from the terminal was met with cries of ‘shame, shame’ from protesters who waved placards lambasting Butt and the three Pakistan players caught up in the scandal.
Test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif have been suspended from all cricket by the International Cricket Council under its anti-corruption code after an investigation into reports in the News of the World newspaper that they had manipulated incidents in the fourth test against England.
“The accusations against them still have to be proven but if any player is found guilty, the board will take the most severe action,” Butt told a large media contingent.
“The fact is until now the accusations have not been proven, neither has the ICC or Scotland Yard charged them even after nine hours of interrogation,” Butt added.
Butt confirmed that the PCB had filed detailed replies to the charge-sheets issued to the players by the ICC but the ICC had said it wanted the players to respond themselves.
“We had filed a detailed reply but the ICC says the players must respond,” he said.