Salman Butt officially admits spot-fixing

Tainted former Pakistan captain Salman Butt on Tuesday  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 <g data-gr-id="25">mediapersons</g> 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 <g data-gr-id="30">Tuesday .</g>

The PCB had rejected Butt’s earlier interviews in media talking about his role in the <g data-gr-id="23">sccandal</g> 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 <g data-gr-id="28">retirn</g> to domestic cricket in February this year, leading Butt to fight his case as well.