Umar Akmal banned for three years from all forms of cricket

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday banned cricketer Umar Akmal for three years from all forms of cricket on corruption charges.

"Umar Akmal handed three-year ban from all cricket by Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel Mr Justice (retired) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan," the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a tweet.

Earlier, Akmal had said during an interview that he was offered $200,000 by fixers to leave two deliveries in one of the matches. He also claimed that he was offered money to skip matches against India.

Read more: Investigations underway in Umar Akmal fixing claims: ICC

“I was once offered $200,000 for leaving two deliveries. I was also offered to skip matches against India,” he said in the interview.

The batsman also said that he was approached during ICC World Cup, including the 2015 edition played in Australia and New Zealand.

However, Akmal had failed to mention if he had reported this to the anti-corruption unit or not.

According to ICC anti-corruption code 2.4.4 and 2.4.5, players are bound to report all the corrupt approaches made to them during any event and failure of doing so carry a minimum punishment of five years.

Kamran Akmal shocked to hear decision 

Pakistani cricketer Kamran Akmal reacted to Umar Akmal’s three-year ban saying that he was shocked to hear the decision.

“We will reach out to every platform for justice and will definitely exercise our right to appeal,” he said, adding that there are instances when punishments of lower degrees were allotted for similar charges.

“It is incomprehensible that why Umar Akmal is penalised so severely,” he objected, adding that a detailed decision is awaited in this regard.

'Akmal can appeal within 14 days of issuance of detailed verdict'

Separately, PCB’s legal adviser Taffazul Haider Rizvi has said the 29-year-old can appeal against the ban within 14 days of Justice Chauhan issuing the detailed verdict.

“Akmal will be able to appeal to an independent adjudicator,” Rizvi said, adding that the detailed verdict would reveal when the punishment would come into force.

"Umar Akmal had accepted his mistake despite that he continued to give explanations for it," the lawyer said.

He added that the PCB cannot punish bookies or third-parties as they do not come into their circle of authority. “It is up to the law enforcement agencies to take action against them,” he added.