'Case against Pak 'spot-fixers' likely to falter'

A British legal expert has said that if the Scotland Yard police decides to lodge a case against Pakistan's alleged 'spot-fixers', it would possibly falter amid the vagaries of the courts.

Scotland Yard is currently probing a 150,000-pound betting scam involving Pakistan skipper Salman Butt, and fast bowlers Muhammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.

Neill Blundell, partner and head of the fraud group at the law firm Eversheds, said: "One of the massive problems in any sport is defining how you actually define what is happening as criminal."

"What they often have difficulty doing is evidentially linking what is going on with the betting," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Blundell, as saying.

"If all you've got is one person saying certain things, itcouk can be very difficult to link that behaviour to what is going on, on the pitch, even if it seems logical to do so," he added.

Blundell further said that all the players could be acquitted on the basis of a lack of evidence.

"Proving that link beyond a reasonable doubt is very difficult to do. What might appear strong evidence initially can be very difficult for a law enforcement agency," Blundell said.

"As has been proved by other similar cases, proving guilt and making evidence admissible can be very difficult," he added.

Amir and Asif are alleged to have bowled pre-arranged no-balls in the Lord's Test, which England won by an innings and 225 runs.

According to The News of the World, London-based agent Mazhar Majeed was behind the scandal.