Salman Butt confessed to spot-fixing, says PCB chief

Lahore, June 17: Tainted former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has signed a confession note admitting to his role in the spot-fixing scandal during the Pakistan versus England series back in 2010, which led to a five-year ban.

PCB chief Shaharyar Khan told the mediapersons that Butt has signed the confession note in order to speed up his return to competitive cricket.

The 31-year-old was one of three players along with Mohammed Aamir and Mohammed Asif to be banned for a minimum of five years for their part in bowling deliberate no-balls in return for money during an August 2010 Test against England at Lord's.

"Butt had not specifically confessed to spot-fixing, so we gave him a statement to sign and he has specifically confessed to spot-fixing," PCB chief told reporters here on Tuesday (June 16).

The PCB had rejected Butt's earlier interviews in media talking about his role in the sccandal terming it as "a general confession".

The PCB supremo said that the statement has been forwarded to the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) of the ICC. Butt's misdeeds led to a jail term along with Aamir and Asif and their agent Mazhar Majeed in 2011.

In January, the ICC approved a revised anti-corruption code that allows the banned players to return to domestic cricket a few months before their bans expire.

That allowed Amir to retirn to domestic cricket in February this year, leading Butt to fight his case as well. Their bans expire on September 1 this year.

PTI