Mohammad Asif owns up to role in cricket spot-fixing
Former fast bowler apologises for events of 2010 and accepts five-year cricket ban
Disgraced Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Asif has apologised for his role in a notorious 2010 spot-fixing scandal, admitting his guilt for the first time and accepting a five-year ban.
The 30-year-old is the last of three players to come out with a confession, after teammates Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir admitted their part in the scandal and presented themselves for rehabilitation.
Asif, pace partner Amir and then-captain Butt were banned for contriving deliberate no-balls in return for money during the Lord's test against England in 2010.
A year later an anti-corruption tribunal of the International Cricket Council (ICC) banned Butt for 10 years, with five suspended, Asif for seven years with two suspended and Amir for five years.
The tribunal had made confession, apology and rehabilitation mandatory to avoid the suspended portion of the ban.
"I accept the punishment from the ICC tribunal in 2011," Asif said yesterday. "I apologise for my actions that have brought disrespect to my beloved country, to the millions of fans in Pakistan and in the world."
The trio and their agent, Mazhar Majeed, were also jailed by an English court over the affair in 2011. The players were released last year.