ICC tribunals in October and January are different: Lorgat

Sun, Nov 14 10 09:07 AM

Karachi, Nov 14 (PTI) International Cricket Council CEO Haroon Lorgat has advised the three suspended Pakistani players and their lawyers not to mix the hearings of the ICC tribunals held last month and one scheduled in January. Asked about the reservations shown by the lawyers of Salman Butt and Muhammad Aamir over the fact that the Chairman of the ICC code of conduct commission, Michael Beloff would supervise the tribunal hearing in January being held to look into charges against the suspended trio, Lorgat said they were separate things. The lawyers have raised concerns over the presence of Beloff pointing out that he has already supervised the hearing of the appellate tribunal held in October and dismissed the appeals of the players. Lorgat told Geo News in Dubai that the outcome of the appeal hearing would have no bearing on the hearing scheduled in January. "The appeals hearing was held to see whether the provisional suspensions on the players were justified. It had no relevance to the charges against them," he said. "In the tribunal hearing in January the tribunal will determine whether the charges brought against the players have substance or not. It will decide if the players are guilty or not of violating the ACU code of conduct," Lorgat explained. He insisted there should be no concern from anyone as under the ICC code of conduct commission rules, its Chairman had to sit in tribunal hearings. The ICC tribunal comprises of Michael Beloff (England), Justice Albie Sachs (SouthAfrica) and Sharad Rao (Kenya) and it will meet in Doha between January 6-11 to decide on charges of alleged breaches of the ICC anti-corruption code by the three cricketers. Tafazzul Rizvi the legal advisor of the Pakistan Cricket Board also advised the players and their lawyers not to spoil their own cases with their statements against the ICC. One of the lawyer''s for Salman Butt, Aftab Gul who played six tests said yesterday he saw no purpose of representing Salman in the ICC tribunal hearing because the ICC had already decided what to do. But Tafazzul said the objection over Beloff was not justified. "The ICC is acting strictly under its given code of conduct rules and Beloff''s appointment on the tribunal is in line with the rules of the house," Rizvi said. "If the lawyers had any objection to the ICC proceedings why didn''t they object during the appeals hearing why raise objections now," he questioned.

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