The tainted trio of Pakistani cricket players, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer , who are facing charges of spot-fixing ( match-fixing) along with their agent Mazhar Majeed in the UK, are issued summons by the British prosecutors to appear before the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on March 17 for the first hearing of the case.
Prosecution officials said that the trio has promised to return to London for court hearing when required and accordingly they have served the summons. “But, we will seek theirextradition from the Pakistani government if they fail to turn up for the hearing,” the officials said.

Thethree Pakistani players have been provisionally suspended by the ICC after the little known English tabloid, ‘News of the World’, published a news story on August 29, 2010 that Asif and Aamer bowled deliberate no-balls, on the advice of the then Pakistani skipper Butt, during Pakistan’s fourth Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London two days earlier.
The tabloid published the story after trapping the agent Mazhar Majeed in a sting operation in which he accepted money for spot-fixing. The trio denied the spot-fixing allegations but promised to return to London when required for court hearing.

“There is sufficient evidence against them which will result in the prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute them,” the prosecution officials said.