Signals coming from the International Cricket Council (ICC) as well as from within the players' camps aren't too reassuring for the trio, who will be up against what many believe is a water-tight case.
The three of them will appear before an independent tribunal in the Qatari capital from January 6-11 for a hearing that will become a focal point for the cricket world. In fact the story has the ingredients of a best-seller with three international sporting stars accused of having links with the underworld and has the potential to make the headlines even in non-cricketing nations just like it did last September following the NOTW exposé.
From the day when the news of spot-fixing allegations against the three players was first splashed by News Of The World (NOTW), most experts have feared the worst for the trio.
Four months on, things have only worsened for them.
It was like a comedy of errors from day one. Pakistan's cricket chiefs initially sided with the players while their top diplomat in Britain publicly declared that he believes the trio were innocent in spite of what many thought was damning evidence against them.
The International Cricket Council (ICC), probably sick and tired of being labeled as a toothless body, decided to intervene and provisionally suspended the trio.
Butt, Asif and Amir were grilled by Scotland Yard detectives prompting speculations that they might be criminally charged. However, they were allowed to return home.
Later, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) proved again that it specializes in taking u-turns, when it pulled back its support for the players.
On their own, the players hopped from one lawyer to the other and in the process two of them - Butt and Amir - had their appeals against the provisional suspended denied by the ICC. Asif opted against filing an appeal.
Insiders privy to the proceedings of that hearing in Dubai told Arab News that Salman Butt's case received fatal blows thanks to his lawyers. According to the insiders, instead of focusing on their client's defense the lawyers were more vocal on how corruption is rampant in world cricket and that many others cricketers were let off the hook in the past though similar allegations of corruption were hurled against them. Unsurprisingly, the strategy backfired.
It would be a small wonder if the England-based Yasin Patel, Butt's current lawyer, still goes to Doha with a few aces up his sleeves.
The players' own attitude was also questionable, to say the least.
Take for example Salman Butt. He was Pakistan's captain in the fourth Test against England at Lord's - the match at the center of the spot-fixing allegations. He was accused of asking Asif and Amir to bowl deliberate no-balls on the orders of match-fixers. Many believe that he was caught red-handed as a big amount of cash was recovered from his hotel room in the central London.
Butt has insisted right from the beginning that he is innocent just like Asif and Amir. That's fine. But during the last few months, he has been damaging his own case by trying to prove his innocence ahead of the Doha hearing. He had been appearing on television talk shows, making an effort to portray himself as a victim. At best, his strategy has only complicated things for the young opener, who remains at the center of the scandal.
Asif, meanwhile, has kept a low profile and seems to be working hard on preparing a solid defense. He has the required experience. During what is still not a long international career, Asif has fought quite a few courtroom battles over positive dope tests and processions of drugs.
The fast bowler's tainted past could prove to be a big stumbling block because Asif comes across as a habitual offender.
Of the three players, Amir seems to be the only one with realistic chances of walking away with minimal punishment. He is young and regarded as one of the most exciting fast bowlers in international cricket. The teenager has received a lot of sympathy from almost all quarters since the scandal broke out. If the trio are found guilty of spot fixing, then Amir lawyers will have to prove that his client was more of a victim than a villain in this story. It could make the tribunal show some leniency to the kid from Gujjar Khan - a rags to riches story till just last summer.
In the end, one would stress that things could have been much better for the trio had the PCB handled the case in a better manner back in September.
The spot fixing scandal broke out just months after the Board punished several of its leading players in the aftermath of a disastrous tour of Australia. During that tour, Pakistan lost the second Test in Sydney from a seemingly winning position. The shocking result ignited rumours that the match was fixed. The matter did come up during a probe carried out by the PCB last February. But the case was closed after ICC's anti-corruption unit gave the Test a clean chit. Things could have been different if the ICC had decided to carry out a proper investigation.
"PCB could have used it as a perfect argument when the spot-fixing case broke out," agrees Aamir Sohail, the former Pakistan captain.
"Our Board chiefs should have questioned the ICC as to why they didn't investigate the issue properly. There wouldn't have been any corruption during the Lord's Test had the defeat in Sydney been probed properly," Aamir told Arab News. "It's the ICC fault because as the game's governing body it is its job to act as a watchdog and keep cricket clean."
