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Pakistan ‘spot-fixing’ controversy timeline

Timeline of the spot-fixing controversy ahead of the anti-corruption tribunal’s decision here on Saturday in the case against Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif:

August 29, 2010

· The News of the World says it paid 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars) to a middle man in return for details about the timing of three no-balls in Pakistan’s fourth Test against England at Lord’s.

· The report says Pakistan bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif delivered the blatant no-balls at exact points in the match agreed with the alleged fixer.

· The bowlers and Test captain Salman Butt are interviewed by Scotland Yard detectives.

· News of the World publishes photograph of the alleged middle man, Mazhar Majeed, counting wads of banknotes given to him by a reporter posing as a front man for a betting syndicate. Majeed is later bailed.

August 30

· There are suggestions that Butt, Aamer and Asif could be withdrawn from the Pakistan team to ensure that two Twenty20 internationals in Cardiff go ahead.

August 31

· Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) says it will not suspend its players while investigations continue.

· Butt, Aamer and Asif summoned to meet the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt, and the Pakistan high commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, in London.

September 2

· Salman Butt, Aamer and Asif dropped from the Twenty20 games.

· The three vow to clear their names, according to Hasan, who adds that they are pulling out of the tour because of the “mental torture” of the scandal.

· ICC charges Butt, Aamer and Asif with various offences under its anti-corruption code. All three are provisionally suspended.

September 3

· Ronnie Flanagan, chairman of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, tells reporters: “The conclusion that we have come to is that there is a really arguable case to answer.”

September 4

· Pakistan one-day skipper Shahid Afridi apologises for the “spot-fixing” row, saying: “On behalf of these boys — I know they are not in this series — I want to say sorry to all cricket lovers and all the cricketing nations.”

· News of the World claims a fourth Pakistan player is being probed over the claims, but declines to name him for “legal reasons”.

September 5

· News of the World releases footage of Pakistan Test player Yasir Hameed in which he claims team-mates “were doing it (fixing) in every match”.

September 17

· Police pass the “spot-fixing” file to the Crown Prosecution Service.

September 18

· ICC launches investigation into the third one-dayer at The Oval — won by Pakistan — after receiving information from the Sun tabloid on allegedly pre-arranged scoring patterns. It later emerges that the ICC tried to persuade the ECB to call off the Oval match shortly before the start.

September 19

· PCB chairman Ijaz Butt alleges England were paid “enormous amounts of money” to lose deliberately at The Oval.

September 20

· England team threaten to sue Ijaz Butt.

September 22

· England, having been pulled back from 2-0 up to 2-2, beat Pakistan by 121 runs at the Rose Bowl to take the five-match series 3-2 in the final fixture of the English season.

September 29

· Ijaz Butt withdraws allegations that England players had “thrown” the third one-day international.

October 4

· Chairman of non-league English football club Croydon Athletic David Le Cluse, 44, found dead from gunshot wounds in a garage near his home in Sutton, south of London. The owner of the club is Mazhar Majeed.

October 13

· The ICC says there is no evidence of corruption in the third one-day international between Pakistan and England.

October 22

· Asif withdraws challenge to his provisional suspension.

November 4

· Pakistan suspends the contracts of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer.

December 13

· Salman Butt denies allegations he was involved in a spot-fixing scam, saying: “I have not done anything such as this in all my life or cricketing career”.

January 11

· After six days of evidence, a three-man independent anti-corruption tribunal, meeting in Qatar, decides to delay an announcement of its findings until February 5.

February 3

· The British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says it will announce on Friday whether the trio of cricketers face legal action in England following a separate investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police.