Fixing-convicted former Pakistan cricket captain withdrawn as consultant

Cricket authorities in Pakistan have withdrawn spot-fixing convicted former captain Salman Butt from a consultancy role a day after his appointment was announced, following criticism from the media, fans and cricket experts.

Butt, along with former players Kamran Akmal and Rao Iftikhar Anjum, was appointed as a consultant for the men’s national team, according to a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) statement on Friday. However, Butt was withdrawn from the position a day later in a hastily-called press conference by chief selector Wahab Riaz.

“I am reverting the decision to hire Salman as we are friends and I have been accused of nepotism in appointing him,” Riaz told reporters at PCB’s headquarters in Lahore on Saturday evening.

“As chief selector, it is up to me whom I want to hire to help me so I hired him [Butt] as he has knowledge of domestic cricket and possesses a good cricketing mind, but there has been a great deal of debate since the decision was announced,” Riaz said.

“I have told Salman he can’t be a part of my team,” he added.

Butt was the central character in a spot-fixing scandal that sent shock waves through the cricket world in September 2010 when a British tabloid’s undercover recording unveiled sports agent Mazhar Majeed boasting of how he could arrange for players to rig games for money.

Then Pakistan captain Butt and his then teammates Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were found guilty of corruption as Pakistan bowled deliberate no-balls during a Test match against England at Lord’s in 2010.

Butt spent seven months of a two-and-a-half-year term at Canterbury prison in southeast England, while Asif and Amir served half of their one-year and six-month terms, respectively.

The opening batter, who played 33 Tests, 78 one-day internationals and 24 Twenty20s, also served a five-year ban from playing the game.