Pakistan pace sensation Mohammad Amir's tender age of 18 may help him escape stringent punishment such as a life ban in case he is found guilty of spot-fixing allegations, ICC's CEO Haroon Lorgat has hinted.
"In my own honest personal view, yes, I think age would come into account in these matters. But that is something the independent tribunal will have to decide upon," Lorgat was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
Amir, fellow pacer Mohammad Asif and Pakistan Test skipper Salman Butt have been provisionally suspended after being implicated in a spot-fixing scandal exposed by British tabloid the News of the World.
The 18-year-old, who is the youngest player to take 50 Test wickets, has had his promising career tarnished by allegations that he took bribes from a bookie to send down deliberate no balls during the Lord's Test against England last month.
The scandal has assumed gigantic proportions after Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed was shown claiming that his teammates were fixing almost every match they played in another video of the sting operation that blew the lid off the betting scam.
Although Hameed has said that he was tricked into making the statements by the undercover reporter, Lorgat said the batsman's statements were disappointing. "I feel extreme disappointment because we've got a code in place that obliges players to disclose any sort of information like this," he said.
Lorgat said he could understand the average fan's disillusionment with the game given the damaging revelations that are coming out every alternate day. "Of course I do. We all know we've got to get to the bottom of this, and everyone in cricket will have to do everything they can to eradicate it from the game," he said.