Pakistan trio charged with taking bribes

Pakistan's former test captain Salman Butt and his two opening bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were charged with taking bribes by British prosecutors on Friday.

News of the decision comes a day before they learn in Qatar whether an independent tribunal set up by cricket's governing body has found them guilty of corruption. Possible punishment include life bans.

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the trio, along with sports agent Mazhar Majeed from Croydon, England, had been charged with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and with conspiracy to cheat.

"These charges relate to allegations that Mr Majeed accepted money from a third party to arrange for the players to bowl `no balls' on 26 and 27 August 2010, during Pakistan's fourth test at Lord's Cricket Ground in London," said Simon Clements, head of the CPS Special Crime Division.

On Saturday, an International Cricket Council (ICC) independent tribunal in Doha will announce the conclusions of its investigation into the Lord's test.

Butt, Asif and Amir were suspended under the ICC's anti-corruption code after a report in the British newspaper The News of the World alleged they had arranged for no balls, or illegal deliveries, to be deliberately bowled in the fourth test.

The trio have denied spot-fixing, the offence of pre-arranging individual events within a match which may not affect the result.

Clements said Majeed had been ordered to appear at London's City of Westminster Magistrates Court on March 17.

"Summonses for the same court date have been issued for the three players and they have been asked to return to this country voluntarily, as they agreed to do in September last year," Clements said.

"Their extradition will be sought should they fail to return."

The CPS said obtaining and accepting corrupt payments carried a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment while cheating incurred a maximum two years.

Amir, who left on Friday for Doha, told the television channel Ary he had just learned about the decision.

"I don't know the details. It has come as a surprise and I will now be consulting my lawyer for further course of action," he said.

The ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board declined to comment.

Earlier on Friday, Shahid Afridi, Butt's predecessor as test captain before his sudden decision last year to resign the job to concentrate on one-day cricket, was confirmed as the Pakistan skipper for the World Cup starting on Feb. 19.