DOHA // Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif, the three Pakistan cricketers accused of spot-fixing, began their defence yesterday in front of the three-member independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal, which is hearing the charges against them.
Over the first two days of the hearing, which started on Thursday, the prosecution laid out the evidence against the three players and examined the witnesses.
Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan limited-overs captain, and the coach Waqar Younis are among those who appeared before the tribunal via teleconference. Mazhar Mahmood, the News of the World reporter who broke the story, is present at the hearing.
"On the first two days, the prosecution presented their case and the cricketers have just started their defence," said an International Cricket Council (ICC) source.
He said a decision is unlikely before Tuesday.
"The ICC wants to give the cricketers all the time they need to present their defence. We don't want them to complain about not getting a proper hearing later."
Mahmood, posing as an agent for a betting cartel, secretly videotaped Mazhar Majeed, an agent for the three cricketers, talking about spot-fixing and accepting £150,000 (Dh856,000) to get Asif and Aamer to bowl three no-balls, at predetermined times, in the fourth Test against England at Lord's in August.
Following the expose, Butt, Aamer and Asif were provisionally suspended by the ICC on September 2 and their fate will be decided by this tribunal.
According to media reports, Aamer and Asif have claimed they bowled the no-balls on the instructions of Butt, who was their captain, fearing they could lose their place in the side if they refused.
