Phone-hacking scandal unlikely to benefit tainted trio

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NOTTINGHAM: Despite the recent closure of Rupert Murdoch’s Sunday tabloid News of the World, the paper which made allegations of spot-fixing, corruption and bribery against the then Pakistan captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, the players are unlikely to be let off.
The tainted trio after being banned for ten, seven and five years by the ICC, are now to face criminal proceedings at the Southwark Crown Court in London in October.
Mohammad Asif was on my flight to London two weeks ago and when I enquired about his purpose of visit, he told me that he had come to talk to his lawyers.
The phone-hacking allegations which caused newspaper’s closure few weeks ago have now prompted the players to enquire if they too were phone-hacking victims. Insiders, however, believe that it is highly unlikely that they will gain any advantage to their defence even if they were.
The lawyers of Salman, Asif and Aamir plan to make a formal request through a judge to the crown court to find out if there is any evidence that they too were hacked.
The expected request is likely to be made by the end of August or they can themselves ask the News International or the police if that was the case and do expect to be told about it as the owners Murdoch and company have vowed to clear up all the cases. But since the trio is involved in an ongoing court case, the request must come via a judge.
One legal source says that even if one or more players had their phones hacked, it would not mean the trial would collapse.
“Even if, hypothetically some evidence in a case were known to be obtained illegally, it does not necessarily make it inadmissible,” says a lawyer.
Although the ‘NOW’ sources decline to comment on this, sources say the players’ lawyers continue to “observe with interest” ongoing revelations between the police and the papers.
Butt, Asif and Aamir are accused of conspiring to bowl pre-arranged no balls at set times in the Lord’s Test last summer against England.
After being punished by the ICC for violating anti-corruption rules, the players had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports based in Switzerland. The CAS will however not rule on it until the criminal court in London finish its proceedings.