PCB leaves out tainted trio from anti-corruption lectures

The banned trio of Salman Butt, Muhammad Aamir and Muhammad Asif have been left out of the Pakistan Cricket Board's initiative to educate players and coaches on anti-corruption measures.

Butt, Aamir and Asif, who were banned in February by the ICC for their involvement in spot-fixing, have not been invited to the lectures held so far by the board.

"The three of them have filed appeals against their bans with the international court of arbitration for sports. So technically the matter is now subjudice," Wasim Bari, who heads the educational program, said.

"Since the matter is subjudice we can't even comment on it and we are not including them at any level now," he added. But sources said the board had planned to invite the trio for the lectures as even the anti-corruption commission in its final observations said the three players must undergo rehabilitation and attend such classes.

"But the board changed its mind after the players filed their appeals and also since now they are facing criminal charges in a London court," one source said.

Pakistan cricket was first rocked by the spot-fixing scandal last year in September when the national team was touring England where the trio was accused of taking bribes to do spot-fixing in a Test match.

Since then, the ICC also issued a clear warning to the PCB to either reform its administration and make its anti-corruption program more effective or face possible suspension from the ICC.

Bari, a former Test captain, said the educational program launched last month was based on lectures, question and answer sessions and distribution of a guide about the ICC anti-corruption code and the PCB's own code of conduct.

"We are holding the lectures in Urdu language and the manual is also in urdu so that the players and coaches can understand things properly," Bari said.

Bari, who is assisted in the program by the security manager of the PCB Colonel Waseem Ahmed, said in the first stage, the board held lectures for all the regional teams. "We have also held lectures for the players who have been picked to represent the national A and under-19 teams," he added.