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London - The fixing scandal surrounding the Pakistan cricket team escalated on Thursday when three players were charged with corruption and suspended by the sport's governing body in a case that has rocked the team's tour of England and tainted the integrity of the game.
The International Cricket Council said that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were charged with "various offences" under the sport's anti-corruption code relating to "alleged irregular behaviour" during the fourth Test against England last week - charges that could lead to life bans.
The players have been provisionally barred from all forms of cricket pending a resolution of the charges.
"We will not tolerate corruption in cricket - simple as that," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement. "We must be decisive with such matters and, if proven, these offences carry serious penalties up to a life ban. The ICC will do everything possible to keep such conduct out of the game, and we will stop at nothing to protect the sport's integrity. While we believe the problem is not widespread, we must always be vigilant."
The ICC said the players have 14 days to decide if they want a hearing.
"It is important, however, that we do not prejudge the guilt of these three players," Lorgat said. "That is for the independent tribunal alone to decide."
Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed declined to comment on the charges.
Earlier on Thursday, the three players declared their innocence in a meeting in London with Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan, who said the trio had been put through "mental torture" and would step down for the rest of the England tour.
"The three players have said they are extremely disturbed with what has happened in the past one week, specially with regard to their alleged involvement in the scam," Hasan said in a statement on behalf of the players. "They mention that they are entirely innocent in the whole episode and shall defend their innocence as such.
"They further maintain that on account of the mental torture which has deeply affected them all, they are not in the right frame of mind to play the remaining matches."
British newspaper the News of the World alleged on Sunday that Amir and Asif were paid to deliberately bowl no-balls in the opening day of the fourth Test at Lord's. Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal were also implicated in the story.
Asif, Amir and Butt had their mobile phones confiscated by police, who also searched hotel rooms and questioned players on Saturday as part of an investigation also involving the ICC's s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.
Hasan suggested that the players had been set up by the British newspaper.
"They are innocent until proven guilty," Hasan told reporters outside the Pakistan High Commission. "They are having to defend themselves. They are upright young men. I think we will go to a court of law to defend them.
"They are Pakistan nationals and it is the honor and the duty of the High Commission to give them support."
Hasan later went further in an interview with the BBC, suggesting that the video in which an associate of the players appeared to correctly predict when Asif and Amir would bowl no-balls had been recorded after the action had taken place.
"The video wasn't timed or dated," Hasan said. "It could have been filmed before or after the match or at a different time."
Officials at the high commission handed out copies of a newspaper article by a journalist critical of the methods employed by the reporter involved in the sting operation that led to the allegations.
Hasan insisted there had been no pressure from authorities to drop the players from the team.
"They want to clear their names first," Hasan said. "We wait for the result of the investigations. I am not in the habit of insinuating or involving anyone."
The ECB welcomed the decision by Pakistan not to include Asif, Amir and Butt in its limited-overs squads.
"We can assure cricket fans across the country that the matches will be played in the most competitive spirit long associated with contests between England and Pakistan," ECB chairman Giles Clarke said.
Butt, Asif and Amir had to be given a police escort as they entered the high commission in Knightsbridge. About 10 police officers guided the trio into the building amid a throng of reporters and TV crews.
About three hours later, Hasan distracted the waiting media while the three players dodged the cameras by departing through the back entrance of an adjacent building.
The players have yet to speak publicly on the matter, which sports lawyer Max Eppel said could damage their reputations and that of the sport.
"Fair play is at the very core of sport and if it becomes tainted by cheating - and allegations such as the current ones surrounding Butt, Amir and Asif can be just as damaging on the basis that no sport wants to be seen as corrupt or tolerating corruption - the fans will walk away," Eppel said.
