First to report Pakistan cricketers to be charged in Britain over cheating scandal

Reuters led from start to finish on one of the biggest global sports stories of the week, reporting first that three Pakistan international cricketers are to be charged by British prosecutors with accepting bribes to rig scores. A strong contacts book put us ahead on news the decision was coming and we were again quickest with news of the charges for cheating that were announced on February 4th. The three cricketers were exposed by a newspaper sting that alleged they took bribes during the 2010 test series against England. Both beats got wide play. Our sports team followed up swiftly with reaction from Pakistan for a story which has embarrassed a sport that has been a byword for fair play. On Saturday, we reported from Doha that the three - former captain Salmon Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir - had been banned by the sport’s governing body for five years each.