Suspended Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir should be dealt with more leniently because of his youth, the International Cricket Council believes.
Amir, fellow paceman Mohammad Asif and captain Salman Butt have been suspended and charged by the ICC after a newspaper sting revealed evidence of the alleged bowling of no-balls at set times in the fourth Test against England.
Amir, a left-arm swing specialist, is considered an emerging talent and the natural successor to revered Pakistani quick Wasim Akram.
The 18-year-old was a favourite to win the ICC's emerging player of the year award before his name was struck from the nominees in light of the allegations against him.
His inexperience is in stark contrast to the 27-year-old Asif and his 25-year-old captain, prompting calls for Amir to be dealt with less harshly than his peers.
It is a sentiment supported by ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat.
"In my own honest personal view, yes, I think age would come into account in these matters," Lorgat told the Daily Mail in London.
"But that is something the independent tribunal will have to decide upon."
The ICC and Scotland Yard are conducting separate investigations into the allegations.
The cricketers have been charged with a total of 23 offences by the sport's governing body, but the criminal investigation is ongoing.