Asif files appeal against ban

	Mohammad Asif has appealed against his given a seven-year ban from cricket © AFP Enlarge

Mohammad Asif has joined Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir in filing an appeal against his ban from the game with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Butt and Amir announced their appeals last month, while Asif had been silent on the subject, but the court has said it has received appeals from all three players.

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered the appeals filed by Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt against the International Cricket Council (ICC) Anti-Corruption Tribunal's decision of 5 February 2011," a statement on the CAS website said.

According to the statement, the players and the ICC will "first exchange written submissions and will then be heard at a hearing, the date of which will be fixed at a later stage". The court also said it will not issue any further comments on the procedure until "a panel of arbitrators has been constituted and a procedural calendar established."

The three Pakistan players were found to be guilty of orchestrating three pre-planned, deliberate no-balls during the Lord's Test against England last August, and were given sanctions ranging from five to 10 years by an independent tribunal headed by Michael Beloff QC after a full hearing in Doha, Qatar in early January, with the verdicts being handed down on February 5.

As captain at the time, Butt received the stiffest sentence, a 10-year ban, though it comes with a suspended portion of five years. Asif received a seven-year ban, with two year's suspended, while Amir was given a straight five-year bans with no suspended sentence. All three players also face criminal charges in England for same incident.