***Official*** Spot-Fixing Scandal

[smash84]

She didn't say it directly, but that is what she seemed to be suggesting.

I watched the video, and what she is basically saying is this : "it is sad for Pakistan and Pakistanis that such a good player has been treated this harshly. The people of Pakistan should protest against this."

Make what of it you will.

It's all very subjective, but she was only appealing to her fellow citizens.

That is exactly what Blaze said earlier. She is now appealing to her fellow citizens to come to the rescue of her son who had so willingly sold them off for a few measly dollars.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

That is exactly what Blaze said earlier. She is now appealing to her fellow citizens to come to the rescue of her son who had so willingly sold them off for a few measly dollars.

Agent either you are not as stupid as you seem or you don't seem as stupid as you are.

No no, Blaze said that she was playing the race card, i.e. Amir has got 5 years because he is Pakistani. I don't think she was playing the race card.

 

[Xuhaib]

why are comments by a distressed mother whose son has just pissed on his promising career being dissected with so much scrutiny over here.

 

[smash84]

good question

 

[Agent Nationaux]

why are comments by a distressed mother whose son has just pissed on his promising career being dissected with so much scrutiny over here.

I just posted the damn video, and everybody decided to act all holier than thou by saying that she's wrong and that she shouldn't support her son because he cheated.

 

[Blaze 18]

As far as I know, no-one said she shouldn't support her son. She can support him in ways other than insinuating bias and/or playing the nationality card, however.

Anyways, like Xuhaib said, the words of an upset mother need not be scrutinised to this extent. Her choice of words was perhaps wrong, but it can happen to the best of people (Shoaib Malik's speech after the 2007 T20 final immediately comes to mind). In general, I think people throw the race/nationality card around way too often nowadays. The worst part is, most people readily lap it up without too much thought.

 

[r3alist]

This is just beyond stupid, in no way was she playing the race card, that is simply a moronic assertion, it's like inverted chip on your shoulders syndrome. What you must realise was that his career represented a big opportunity for amirs family to improve their lot, now this has seemingly gone down the drain, as well as her sons prosperity and reputation, this is a fairly big and significant event and she is appealing for help, talk about creative slandering.

 

[GIMH]

Don't understand people saying that the CPS shouldn't have prosecuted as there's no evidence. You people do realise that there will be evidence we aren't privy to, right??? The CPS don't go round charging people for the hell of it, (the anti-freedom party's terrorist act excluded)

And comparing it to a wicket-keeper knocking the bails off illegitimately is facile at best.

 

[BoyBrumby]

So the captain had cash on him,- I'm sorry but big ****ing deal

The only things we know are:

a. NOTW (hardly gospel)

b. Bowlers delivering no balls

c. No proof of any money changing hands

d. Pakistanis

Prior, Haddin and Dhoni rated a few lines but WTF, give these guys life!

You seriously suggesting there's no difference between cheating to win and deliberately underperforming to order? Sorry, but it's a completely different ball park. Where does it end? Arresting Richie McCaw for killing the ball?

& it wasn't just that Butt had a large sum of cash on him that he couldn't account for (it looks dodgy, but hardly proof of anything itself), but rather that it was the same notes that the NOTW had paid to the middle man. Now whilst there's no direct proof (at least in the public domain) that any of it found its way to Amir or Asif, they undeniably did bowl the no-balls as requested. Whether it was for money or because they wanted to please their captain is immaterial; in the first instance they're bent and greedy in the second bent and stupid.

&, say what you want about the NOTW, but the CPS are unlikely to want to waste their time if there's no reasonable prospect of a conviction.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Don't understand people saying that the CPS shouldn't have prosecuted as there's no evidence. You people do realise that there will be evidence we aren't privy to, right???

Yeah I seem to remember saying this several times before. A very important point.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Don't understand people saying that the CPS shouldn't have prosecuted as there's no evidence. You people do realise that there will be evidence we aren't privy to, right??? The CPS don't go round charging people for the hell of it, (the anti-freedom party's terrorist act excluded)

And comparing it to a wicket-keeper knocking the bails off illegitimately is facile at best.

You seriously suggesting there's no difference between cheating to win and deliberately underperforming to order? Sorry, but it's a completely different ball park. Where does it end? Arresting Richie McCaw for killing the ball?

& it wasn't just that Butt had a large sum of cash on him that he couldn't account for (it looks dodgy, but hardly proof of anything itself), but rather that it was the same notes that the NOTW had paid to the middle man. Now whilst there's no direct proof (at least in the public domain) that any of it found its way to Amir or Asif, they undeniably did bowl the no-balls as requested. Whether it was for money or because they wanted to please their captain is immaterial; in the first instance they're bent and greedy in the second bent and stupid.

&, say what you want about the NOTW, but the CPS are unlikely to want to waste their time if there's no reasonable prospect of a conviction.

CPS's whole investigation is based on the evidence provided by NOTW, and if they really do have information which links the marked bills to Asif and Amir then wouldn't they have also prosecuted Riaz 'the jacket' Wahab and Umar Amin. In fact the whole thing is very surprising because the metropolitan police which gathered the evidence for CPS never arrested anyone but rather interviewed the guilty including Riaz as witnesses. Doesn't that suggest that their case is very weak. Yes they were guilty of spot fixing and have been punished appropriately by being banned from cricket but prosecution is absurd. Why is the CPS wasting tax payers money and why didn't they prosecute our own MP's for corruption. Are three Pakistani idiots more important? Lets suppose Amir goes to jail, what if he is hurt by someone in there, wouldn't that cause a huge diplomatic crises. Being stupid and greedy shouldn't be a cause for criminal proceedings.

It's OK for the UK to have the three stooges extradited from Pakistan but when the US wants Gary McKinnon extradited from the UK for hacking their army network, the UK is fully prepared to fight his case. This is bull****.

 

[BoyBrumby]

CPS's whole investigation is based on the evidence provided by NOTW, and if they really do have information which links the marked bills to Asif and Amir then wouldn't they have also prosecuted Riaz 'the jacket' Wahab and Umar Amin. In fact the whole thing is very surprising because the metropolitan police which gathered the evidence for CPS never arrested anyone but rather interviewed the guilty including Riaz as witnesses. Doesn't that suggest that their case is very weak. Yes they were guilty of spot fixing and have been punished appropriately by being banned from cricket but prosecution is absurd. Why is the CPS wasting tax payers money and why didn't they prosecute our own MP's for corruption. Are three Pakistani idiots more important? Lets suppose Amir goes to jail, what if he is hurt by someone in there, wouldn't that cause a huge diplomatic crises. Being stupid and greedy shouldn't be a cause for criminal proceedings.

They did.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

They did.

I think there were far more than one low ranking MP.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

The only reason that everybody on this forum is up in arms over the trio being prosecuted is because they have brought disrepute to the game of cricket. If you go outside this forum most people wouldn't give a **** and would probably think the tax payers money is being wasted. I love cricket but this wonderful game shouldn't be more important than someone's life.

 

[Debris]

Anyway, what a joke

Where is the proof that Aamir and Asif were offered money?

Nowhere

Where is the proof that Asif and Aamir received money?

Same place

Complete ****ing joke of a decision that robs fans the world over of seeing 2 of the best talents of their generation

You mean proof other than that a guy in the stands can state exactly which 3 balls are going to be a no-ball before they happen. I guess he could be some sort of psychic who hates pakistan.

 

[GIMH]

I can think of plenty of crimes that a lot of people don't give a **** about, it's not actually relevant to whether they should be protected. And given that the amount of people in this country who watch and care about cricket (before we consider those watching around the world) is a hardly insignificant amount, then your point about taxpayers' money being wasted becomes even more ridiculous.

What they did was illegal. You break the law, you face the consequences. No ifs and no buts.

 

[howardj]

What they did was illegal. You break the law, you face the consequences. No ifs and .

- The video
- The marked notes in the hotel room
- The sheer size of the no balls

Not everything is a conspiracy; not everyone is out to get Pakistanis.

Maybe, just maybe, they are guilty.

What baffles me is why anyone who cares about Pakistani cricket would stand up on behalf of these guys. You think these guys gave a second thought to Pakistani fans, the PCB, cricket lovers in general when they took the cash? These guys don't give a **** about you. They've dragged Pakistan's reputation, and cricket in general, through the bush.

****s me why any cricket lover would stand up for them.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

I can think of plenty of crimes that a lot of people don't give a **** about, it's not actually relevant to whether they should be protected. And given that the amount of people in this country who watch and care about cricket (before we consider those watching around the world) is a hardly insignificant amount, then your point about taxpayers' money being wasted becomes even more ridiculous.

What they did was illegal. You break the law, you face the consequences. No ifs and no buts.

How is it ridiculous, spot/match fixing will continue whether or not these three are prosecuted. The real criminals (bookies) are still out there, looking for their next batch of pray. As long as there is money being thrown around, illegal betting is big business. These three are just scapegoats and the CPS is prosecuting them in order to look like they are doing something about the problem.

The trio have been charged on two different accounts:

i) Accepting corrupt payments is an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and carries a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

Well for this case only Butt has been caught with the marked bills and therefore Amir and Asif have no connection to this (remember Riaz was seen accepting the cash but he hasn't been charged so there probably won't be any evidence against Amir and Asif).

ii) Cheating is an offence contrary to Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005. It carries a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

In this case there is probable case for indictment. Therefore let's have a look at the section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005:

Cheating

(1)A person commits an offence if he—

(a)cheats at gambling, or

(b)does anything for the purpose of enabling or assisting another person to cheat at gambling.

(2)For the purposes of subsection (1) it is immaterial whether a person who cheats—

(a)improves his chances of winning anything, or

(b)wins anything.

(3)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) cheating at gambling may, in particular, consist of actual or attempted deception or interference in connection with—

(a)the process by which gambling is conducted, or

(b)a real or virtual game, race or other event or process to which gambling relates.

(4)A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, to a fine or to both, or

(b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both.

(5)In the application of subsection (4) to Scotland the reference to 51 weeks shall have effect as a reference to six months.

(6)Section 17 of the Gaming Act 1845 (c. 109) (winning by cheating) shall cease to have effect.

The real concern for the trio is the highlighted part; section 3. However how can CPS prove that they were gambling or were going to gamble. Money was paid to Majeed for a demonstration. Also how will they prove that Amir and Asif were involved in the whole scam because there isn't any connection between Asif and Amir to Majeed other than he being their sports agent.

Then doesn't this gambling act also affect other players who have participated in spot/match fixing like Gibbs or Lilly ( I realise that this only came into affect in 2005 and that those incidents happened in other countries, but still why have they been let off).

 

[Agent Nationaux]

- The video
- The marked notes in the hotel room
- The sheer size of the no balls

Not everything is a conspiracy; not everyone is out to get Pakistanis.

Maybe, just maybe, they are guilty.

What baffles me is why anyone who cares about Pakistani cricket would stand up on behalf of these guys. You think these guys gave a second thought to Pakistani fans, the PCB, cricket lovers in general when they took the cash? These guys don't give a **** about you. They've dragged Pakistan's reputation, and cricket in general, through the bush.

****s me why any cricket lover would stand up for them.

I don't think that they guy you quoted is a Pakistani, but I am. I hate the trio for what they did and am glad that they have been punished by the ICC. However apart from being a Pakistani, I am a human being and consider it the height of injustice that they are to be prosecuted for criminal offences. Nobody deserves that for such a minor incident, which in no way was criminal.

By the way, I don't think there is any conspiracy.

 

[howardj]

Oops I didnt mean to quote.