体坛英语新闻：Pakistani court declines request to stop PCB proceedings against spot fixing

ISLAMABAD, June 13 (Xinhua) -- A Pakistan court on Tuesday declined a request to stop Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) tribunal proceedings against the suspension of the country's international cricketer Khalid Latif for his alleged involvement in spot fixing, according to the court's verdict.

A division bench of Lahore High Court (LHC), headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh, heard the appeal filed by Latif, challenging PCB's Anti-Corruption Code and tribunal proceedings regarding the corruption allegations surfaced during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in United Arab Emirates in February this year.

Latif is one of the five Pakistani players who were suspended from all kind of sports activities due to reports that they had links with book makers and that they were allegedly planning to fix the PSL matches.

The PCB has already punished international fast bowler Muhammad Irfan by banning him from games for six months.

The quick punishment came after Irfan confessed the allegations before the tribunal, saying that he rejected an offer by an unknown person for the purpose, but failed to report the issue to officials because he was upset due to the death of his parents.

The PCB has already charged Latif and his companion Sharjeel Khan in March for their alleged connection with bookies for spot fixing, a breach of the sports body's anti-corruption code.

Latif, in his petition, submitted before the court that the PCB chairman did not have any power to form a tribunal and requested the court to release an order to stop tribunal proceedings.

He also requested the court to restrain tribunal from making a final decision on the issue, but the court rejected all the appeals.

Since the scandal emerged in February, the PCB has been urged to take stern action against the culprits once of all.

Earlier, Pakistan's Test team captain Misbah ul Haq has demanded a life time ban on the players if they are found guilty.

Declaring it very disappointing, Misbah said the recent scandal has undermined the team's efforts to improve its image over the seven years since the 2010 spot-fixing scandal emerged in Britain.

In 2010, three players of Pakistan's team were banned for five years and were also sent to jail for taking bribes to bowl deliberate no-balls as part of a betting scam in the British tournament.