Banned Amir could have got away with lighter punishment

KARACHI: Pakistan  pacer Mohammad Amir could have escaped with a two-year ban instead of the five years he is serving right now for his involvement in spot-fixing, had he accepted the plea bargain offered initially by the ICC’s anti-corruption tribunal.

Sources close to the player disclosed that during the hearings of the ICC anti-corruption tribunal inDubai  and Doha late last year and in early 2011, Amir’s lawyer was given the option of accepting a plea bargain for his client.

“Amir was told that if he agreed to admit to his crime of spot-fixing and admitted the involvement of teammates, Salman Butt  and Mohammad Asif  while pleading for leniency because of his young age he would escape with a two-year ban,” one source said