On Monday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Disciplinary Panel announced a ban of three years for the controversial cricketer Umar Akmal as he was found guilty of corruption charges. The PCB Anti-Corruption officials had charged Umar within two separate cases of not reporting an approach made to him to spot fix matches in the 5th season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Umar, who was provisionally suspended on February 20 and barred from playing in the PSL for his franchise Quetta Gladiators, has been charged for breaching Article 2.4.4 of PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code. He had until March 31 to respond to the show-cause notice sent to him by the board but he had decided not to challenge it.
ALSO READ: Harsha Bhogle Names Best Captain in History of Indian Cricket
The PCB had then referred the matter to the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel Justice (retired) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, former Lahore High Court Judge. Akmal is the second high-profile player being banned due to corruption charges after opening batsman Sharjeel Khan, who was handed a 5-year ban (half of it suspended) in 2017 for his role in the spot-fixing scandal that marred the PSL earlier that year.
Talking about the same, in his Youtube channel former captain Javed Miandad said, “Players who are involved in spot-fixing should be severely punished. Spot-fixers should be hanged because it is similar to killing someone and so the punishment should also be on the same lines. An example should be set so that no player even thinks about doing something like this.”
Mohammad Hafeez had also suggested a life ban on all corruption-accused players in Pakistan cricket, a thought which former skipper Shahid Afridi also agreed with.
ALSO READ: Shoaib Akhtar Verdicts Mega Cricket Events Amid Corona Virus
During a chat with Geo channel, Afridi said, “I feel these examples should have been set in the past but this didn’t happen and that is why we have seen such cases on regular basis. I have nothing against anyone but even now if the Board wants to set an example it can do that. Only then can we hope to curtail such cases.”
