the remarks provoked a backlash from the england and wales cricket board as well as england coach andy flower and captain andrew strauss. the ecb announced that it would be taking legal action against butt for his allegations, though the tour would continue despite several england players' reluctance to participate. there were several calls for butt to resign, however he refused. wajid shamsul hasan, the pakistan's high commissioner, defended butt, calling the disagreement "a very innocent argument" and denying relationships with the united kingdom were adversely affected. the england team later made official their demand for an apology in a letter sent to butt, promising legal action without further warning if their request went unfulfilled. butt arrived in london in late september vowing not to retract his comments in the run up to a meeting with the lawyers of three suspended pakistan players; however, he later reversed course and retracted his statement. he was nevertheless recalled by the pcb for an explanation, amid speculation that his future as chairman remained tenuous. the icc board of directors discussed sacking him in a meeting in dubai should he not accept new anti-corruption measures.