Pakistan cricket cheats are just the latest sportsmen to face jail

FORMER Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt has been jailed for 30 months for his part in a spot fixing scandal in which members of the team bowled deliberate no-balls against England during a Test match at Lords last summer. Mohammad Asif, once ranked the second best bowler in the world, has been sentenced to a year in prison and 19-year-old Mohammad Amir faces six months behind bars. Cricket agent Mazhar Majeed, who organised payments for the players, was jailed for 32 months.
 
The sentences have shocked cricket fans, but the players are by no means the first professional sportsmen to end up behind bars. Here are some others:
 
OJ Simpson
The former Buffalo Bills running back was one of the finest American footballers of his generation. By the time he retired in 1979 we was an established actor, becoming a global star thanks to the Naked Gun films with Leslie Nielsen. In 1995 he was accused of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown. He was cleared of her murder after ‘the trial of the century’, but in 2008 was sentenced to 33 years in prison for a variety of offences including kidnapping and robbery. He will not be eligible for parole until 2017.
 
Mike Tyson
Once considered the 'Baddest Man on the Planet' when he was undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in the late 1980s, Tyson's life began to spiral in the early 1990s after he lost his crown to Buster Douglas, and in 1992 he was convicted of raping 18-year-old beauty queen Desiree Washington at an Indianapolis hotel. He spent three years in jail. He converted to Islam, resumed his career and eventually retired in 2005 after several shock defeats.
 
Lester Piggott
One of the greatest jockeys of all time, Piggott, who won his first race at the age of 12, rode more than 4,000 winners over a 37-year career before retiring at the end of the 1985 season. In 1987 the inland revenue caught up with him and he was jailed for three years for tax evasion. He served 366 days in prison and was stripped of his OBE. He made a comeback as a jockey at the age of 54 and won yet another classic, the 2,000 Guineas, in 1992. He retired for good in 1995.
 
Plaxico Burress
The NFL wide receiver spent five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before moving to the New York Giants where he scored the winning touchdown in Superbowl XLII in 2007. Things went wrong for him in 2008 when he accidentally shot himself in the leg with his own pistol. Police found other guns and ammunition at his home and he served a two-year jail sentence in 2009 for arms offences. He was released earlier this year and is now playing for the New York Jets.
 
Tony Adams
There is no shortage of footballers who have served time behind bars, but few are as celebrated as England and Arsenal defender Tony Adams, who was jailed for nine months in 1990 for drink-driving and reckless driving offences. He was arrested after crashing his car while 27 times over the legal drink-drive limit. Adams eventually admitted his alcoholism in 1996 and went on to win two league and cup doubles with Arsenal.
 
Leslie Hylton
The West Indian fast bowler played six Tests between 1935 and 1939 but is best known for his death. He was hanged in 1955 for the murder of his wife. He shot her after she confessed to cheating on him, but at his trial he claimed that he had been trying to shoot himself, and missed. ·