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The tainted trio of Mohd Asif, Salman Butt and Mohd Aamer have been given dates of Oct 30th and 31st by the ICC to hear their appeals in Doha, Qatar. The three have been accused of spot-fixing and have been charged of various offences already. 

All three players filed the appeals this week and will be heard by ICC Code of conduct commission head Mr Michael Beloff QC. With the hearing of appeals pending with ICC, the Pakistani trio is schedule to miss the the first few T20Is and ODIs against South Africa to be played in Abu dhabi and Dubai from Oct 26 to Nov 24, after which Pakistan team flies to New Zealand.

The choice of venue for hearing the appeals have been interesting as players had requested not to attend the hearing in London due to potentially hostile media reactions. Since Mohd Asif is banned from entering UAE in the wake of Drug scandal last year, Dubai also was out of question for hearing the appeal.

"It is important to understand that the appeals are against the provisional suspension only and will not consider the substantive charges that were laid against the players on 2 September 2010," quoted ICC Lorgat, the ICC chief in a statement. "In the meantime, the players remain provisionally suspended from all cricket and related activities." This is the first time that ICC has actually suspended any player under the anti corruption code. 

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, Ejaz Butt says that there is a need to have a thorough investigation into the spot fixing controversy before any conclusions are drawn. He makes his point that there are unnecessary rumours being spread about just one country when no body is aware of where they have come from.

He has reiterated the need of full investigation and that PCB and Pakistan cricket is ready to provide all kind of cooperation and support for the same. Ejaz Butt was in London to meet the Chairman of ECB Giles Clarke to discuss the issues lingering the spot fixing controversy and to correct the concerns and allegations made about the ECB and the English team.