Shoaib Akhtar in 2007, and was even accused by his film star girlfriend of swindling her out of $130,000.
Moreover, unlike Amir who confessed early on to his role in bowling deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test of August 2010 in exchange for cash, both Butt and Asif denied their guilt until they had exhausted all legal avenues of appeal.
Butt, meanwhile, was widely blamed for coercing the young Amir into wrongdoing.
The PCB has devised a six-month roadmap for the duo, ordering them to play club and grade-two cricket before entering into first-class competition.
They are also required to lecture domestic players about the perils of fixing.
Age weighs heavily against the duo, particularly Asif who at 32 is now beyond the generally accepted peak years for a pace bowler.
Precocious Amir, who at 18 became the youngest player in history to take 50 Test wickets, received widespread sympathy from across the cricketing world at the time of his ban.
The PCB were able convince the ICC to relax his ban, allowing him to feature in domestic matches from April this year.
He took an impressive 22 wickets in four grade-two matches and is set to feature in the National Twenty20 tournament starting from Tuesday (today).
But a long lay-off exposed his fragile fitness, something which may hinder his early return to international cricket even though at 23 his best years could still be ahead.
“I am not looking for international cricket so soon. I have to work on my fitness and perform consistently then only I can expect to play at the top level,” said Amir, who says he is targeting a comeback for Pakistan in the World Twenty20 in India next March.
If he succeeds there, he could theoretically tour England in July, returning to the country where he was caught fixing.
Butt, Asif and Amir may have been forced out of the sport in 2010, but Pakistan moved on under the leadership of batting stalwart Misbah-ul-Haq, who has captained his country to a record 18 Test wins including series victories over Australia and England.
Many of the current crop of players are said to be opposed to the trio’s return, with some seen leaving the practice area once Amir started bowling in nets at the national academy in Lahore last week.