Date set for cricketer Asif’s appeal in Swiss court

LONDON: Cricketer Muhammad Asif’s appeal against the seven-year ban imposed upon him by the International Cricket Council (ICC) will be heard by three judges in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland from Feb 5 to 7, his lawyers have confirmed.

Asif’s lawyer Barrister Ravi Sukul told ‘The News’ that Muhammad Asif ‘remains determined to clear his name.’ Sukul said that Asif would argue that the ICC ban imposed on him is unlawful. Asif himself is peeved as he never agreed to accept, nor received any corrupt payments, said the lawyer.

This is confirmed by the fact that no evidence was produced during his trial at the Southwark Crown Court that he took any money from the cricket agent Mazhar Majeed or anybody else.The ICC imposed seven-year ban on Asif and other players in January 2011. Asif’s fellow players Muhammad Amir and captain Salman Butt both accepted that they received payments from Mazhar Majeed, their cricketing agent. Some marked money was found on them at the hotel which the police raided in London after the News of The World snared Majeed in a sting operation.

Ravi Sukul said: “The appeal in the CAS is a major part of Asif’s continuing campaign to clear himself of any involvement in cricket spot-fixing activities. The campaign has reached another milestone with the confirmation of the appeal hearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland.” The principal of SJS Solicitors Mrs Savita Sukul confirmed that she has filed further papers in the CAS. She said that she has assembled and will be taking a legal team to represent Asif at his appeal in the CAS.

In September 2010, the ICC charged Asif, Salman Butt and Mohammed Amir with offences under the Anti-Corruption Code. The Anti-Corruption Tribunal found all three cricketers guilty as charged and imposed lengthy bans upon them. Butt and Amir have not appealed against the Tribunal convictions. Asif has appealed against both his conviction and the length of the ban imposed upon him by the ICC. He has also challenged his UK convictions and that appeal will be heard in London by the UK Court of Appeal later this year.

Asif is currently living with his family in Pakistan and will be attending the hearings of both his appeals, he confirmed to ‘The News.’

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