Are the punishments of the Pakistani cricketers too harsh?
YES – by Will Barnes
The minimum five year bans issued to Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt for their part in the spot-fixing scandal that rocked the cricketing world in August 2010 was punishment enough for these cricketers. They should not be facing jail sentences in addition. Mohammad Amir should not have faced a five year ban initially let alone a prison sentence.
Asif, 28, and Butt, 27, accepted money to orchestrate the bowling of no-balls at specific points in the Lord’s test in August 2010, thus defrauding bookmakers. Their bans were fitting punishment. They would have returned to the game in their early-thirties their best cricketing years behind them and thus would have suffered accordingly. The addition of jail terms to their bans is simply unecessary. Surely, a minimum five year ban would have been enough to deter other sportsmen from attempting to fix a match?
Amir, 19, is as guilty as his teammates, but should not have faced a five year ban. As a fresh face in the team, I believe he was pressured by Asif and Butt to participate in the fixing and feared that he would be removed from the team if he did not comply with their wishes. I would argue that a two or three year ban would have been sufficient to convince him not to try and fix future cricket matches. There was simply no need at all for an additional jail term.
NO – by Matt Stephenson
Some people may ask themselves, how badly can a few innocuous ‘no-balls’ here and there really affect a sport? The answer to that can be seen clearly in the jail terms given to three of the most talented Pakistani players the country has seen in recent years.
The actions of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have thrown the cricket world into chaos, tarnishing a sport which prides itself upon sportsmanship and moral conduct at the very heart of the game.
Any ‘accidental’ mistake in the professional game now undergoes an inquisition which serves only to sully the name of the sport, and remind us all of the events which overshadowed an entire touring series in 2010.
Let’s not be fooled. These men knew exactly what they were doing when they accepted such huge sums of money from men they knew they should not trust, and as a consequence they have not only destroyed their own careers, but have tarnished the name of their home nation, a nation so blighted by match-fixing and dishonest conduct in past years.