Aamir to appeal against ICC ban

Doha, Feb 6 (ANI): Tainted Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Aamir will appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sports (CAS) in Switzerland against the five-year ban imposed on him by the International Cricket Council over spot-fixing charges, his lawyer has said.

"On behalf of Aamir, I want to say that we will be disputing the judgment to say the least," The Nation quoted Shahid Karim, as saying soon after the verdict was announced on Saturday.

Under the ICC code, the banned players have 21 days to appeal to the CAS.

Teenage pacer Aamir said he was "shocked and hugely disappointed" at being handed a five-year ban. "I wasn't expecting that much of a ban," he added.

The corruption charges relate to Pakistan's Test match against England at Lord's last year, when a British tabloid claimed that Aamir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif had colluded in a spot-fixing scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed.

The Anti-Corruption Tribunal imposed a 'sanction of ten years ineligibility' on Butt, "five years of which are suspended on condition that he commits no further breach of the code and that he participates under the auspices of the Pakistan Cricket Board in a programme of Anti-Corruption education."

On Asif, a sanction of seven years ineligibility has been imposed, two years of which are suspended "on condition that he commits no further breach of the code and that he participates under the auspices of the Pakistan Cricket Board in a programme of Anti-Corruption education."

18-year-old Aamir, who has been imposed with the minimum prescribed sanction under the ICC Anti-corruption Code, said he had expected to "get away" without any ban.

"I was confident that I will get away without any punishment, but this is very hard on me," he said. "I have just come out of the hearing and have told my family, who have tried to console me.

"I will sit with my lawyer and decide about appealing against the verdict," he added. (ANI)