Pakistan cricket chief Ijaz Butt flew into England on Tuesday still steadfastly refusing to apologize for his role in a row over “spot-fixing” that has been the talk of world cricket
Pakistan’s recent tour of England, where they also played Australia in a neutral series, was marred by spot-fixing allegations.
The tour ended in acrimony when Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Butt alleged England players were paid “enormous amounts of money” to lose the third one-day international at The Oval, sparking a furious row between the two countries’ cricket officials.
Legal action
England players and the England and Wales Cricket Board have threatened legal action unless they receive an unreserved apology from Butt who, at the time, said he was simply repeating something he’d heard from bookmakers.
Butt, due to meet with his London lawyers yesterday, gave little away when asked by reporters after getting off his plane on Tuesday if he’d apologize.
“I will talk to you people once I am through with my visit here,” he said.
As to whether he was ready for legal action if he didn’t apologize, Butt said: “It depends, we’ll see what happens.”
“There is a lot of confusion, once I am through [with this visit] most of this confusion will be overcome,” Butt said.
Butt is due to meet Elizabeth Robertson, the British lawyer representing Pakistani players and the PCB over the spot-fixing allegations.
Scotland Yard
He is also expected to meet Scotland Yard officers who have already interviewed Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Wahab Riaz
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has provisionally suspended Salman Butt, Aamer and Asif following a newspaper report the trio were involved in a plot to bowl no-balls deliberately during a Test against England at Lord’s.
The ICC has launched a separate inquiry into the Sept. 17 one-dayer at The Oval after British tabloid the Sun said the scoring pattern of Pakistan’s innings in the match was pre-arranged with bookmakers.
Butt also met ICC officials last week in an unsuccessful attempt to get the provisional suspension on the three players lifted.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was