Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif appeals rejected by CAS

GENEVA: The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday rejected the appeals of former Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt and Muhammad Asif against the bans imposed against them for spot-fixing.

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeals filed by the Pakistani cricket players Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt against the decisions taken by the International Cricket Council Tribunal on 5 February 2011," it said in a statement.

The two along with Muhammad Amir were banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2011 after being found guilty of deliberately contriving no-balls in return for money in the Lord’s test in England in 2010.

The trio was exposed by the now defunct British newspaper the News of the World in a sting operation involving their agent Mazhar Majeed who struck a deal for $230,000 with an undercover reporter.

The appeals of Butt and Asif were heard by a three-member CAS panel led by lawyer Graham Mew and accompanied by Romano Subiotto and Robert Reid.

According to a press release by Butt’s lawyers, the former Pakistani captain said he is “bitterly disappointed” with the decision of the Court of Arbitration of Sport but vowed to continue to fight to clear his name.