Salman Butt fined 50 per cent of match fee for ICC Code of Conduct breach

Pakistan player Salman Butt has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during his side's second Test against South Africa.

Vice-captain Butt was found guilty of making serious public criticism of match officials by ICC match referee Alan Hurst of the Emirates Elite Panel, in a hearing that took place after play concluded in Lahore on Thursday.

The player was found to have breached clause 2.3 of the ICC Code which relates to "Serious public criticism of, or inappropriate comment on, a match-related incident or match official."

After play on Wednesday Butt spoke to the media and during that interaction he was quoted as saying: "There have been a few decisions where I feel we were unlucky. I think Yousuf was not out yesterday and when you get one such decision against your premier batsman it does affect you."

Commenting on the hearing, and his decision, Mr Hurst said: "It is the responsibility of the captain or vice-captain to set examples on and off the field in not only what they do, but also what they say.

"Negative comments about some umpiring decisions, made by Salman Butt at a media conference and later printed in more than one newspaper, were very specific and could have the effect of creating addition tensions on the field and also undermining the mutual respect that is essential between umpires and players.

"If players or officials have any views of this nature then there are appropriate and far less controversial ways for them to be aired including the captains' reports that are submitted to match referees after every game and I expect avenues such as this to be explored in future.

"In reaching my decision, I took the player's previous good record, his guilty plea and an apology for his actions into consideration."

All Level 2 breaches carry a minimum penalty of 50 per cent of a player's match fee and a maximum penalty of their full match fee and/or a one Test match or two One-Day International match ban.

The charge was brought by on-field umpires Simon Taufel and Mark Benson, third official Nadeem Ghauri and the fourth umpire Iftikhar Malik.

Mr Hurst reached his decision after a hearing attended by the four umpires, Salman Butt and Pakistan team Manager Talat Ali.

The player does have a right of appeal. An appeal must be lodged in writing with the ICC Legal Counsel setting out the grounds of appeal within 24 hours of the ICC Match Referee's decision.

The full ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Officials can be found here