Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal

Mohammad Amir (left), Mohammad Asif (centre) and Salman Butt (right) were banned by International Cricket Council for 5 years from international and domestic cricket.

The Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal was a sports scandal that occurred during a Test match between England and Pakistan at Lord's, London, in August 2010. The scandal centered on three members of Pakistan's national cricket team, who were convicted of taking bribes from a bookmaker, Mazhar Majeed, to deliberately bowl no-balls at certain pre-arranged moments during the Test.

Undercover reporters from News of the World secretly videotaped Mazhar Majeed accepting money and informing the reporters that Pakistani fast bowlers Asif and Amir would deliberately bowl no-balls at specific points during the game. This information could be used by gamblers to place bets with inside information (i.e. spot-fixing).

In response to these allegations, Scotland Yard arrested Majeed on a charge of match fixing. The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned three Pakistan players - team captain Salman Butt, and the fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir — for terms of between 5 and 10 years. In November 2011, Butt and Asif were also found guilty by a London court on criminal charges relating to spot-fixing. Amir and Majeed had entered guilty pleas on the same charges. All four were given prison sentences, ranging from six months to 32 months.