LAHORE: The wife of Pakistan’s former captain Salman Butt gave birth to a baby boy just minutes before her husband was found guilty Tuesday of a “spot-fixing” betting scam during a match against England.
The 27-year-old’s father told AFP by telephone from Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore that the baby was born 30 minutes before the verdict — news that was splashed immediately all over Pakistani television stations.
“Salman Butt has a baby boy 30 minutes before the verdict came,” his father, Zulfiqar Butt, told AFP, without giving the baby’s name.
“It’s a matter of great grief for us that Butt has been found guilty. We hope the Almighty will bring him out of this trouble because these are very difficult times for him and the family,” he added.
It is Butt’s first son — he already has a daughter.
The former Test captain was convicted at Southwark Crown Court of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat at gambling, while fast bowler Mohammad Asif was found guilty of conspiracy to cheat.
Prosecutors alleged that they conspired with British agent Mazher Majeed and fast bowler Mohammad Amir to deliver three intentional no-balls during the Lord’s Test between Pakistan and England in August 2010.
The pair were charged after allegations about their involvement in spot-fixing appeared in the now-defunct News of the World tabloid, owned by Australian-born media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, shortly after the Lord’s Test.
Butt and Asif, 28, had both pleaded not guilty.
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