PCB defends CAS move in Umar Akmal case

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has defended its decision tomove to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne (Switzerland) against the reduction in Umar Akmal’s ban for breaching the PCBAnti-CorruptionCode, saying that all efforts and energieswill be spent to uphold resolve against such practices. A PCB spokesmanwhen approached aswhy the board hasmoved to the international court to seek reprieve as it could put extra financial burden on the board’s kitty, he said that the PCB has zero tolerance on such practices. “The decision has been made to uphold the image of the game. We feel that the decision to impose a 36-month ban on Umar was according to the rules. We want to move to CAS to seek revival of that ban,” he said. The independent adjudicator has reduced the Umar’s ban from 36 to 18 months. It is generally believed that the decision to move to the international court was more taken for joyrides and having good time on PCB finances. The second opinion is that following the unexpected loss against England in the first Test at Old Trafford, the PCB wanted to divert attention by unnecessarily dragging thematter to CAS. “I don’t think anyone even have to go to Switzerland to pursue the case. The matter is expected to be decided on documents.All the relevant documentswould be sent from either side to the court and the CAS would take the decision accordingly,” the PCB spokesman said. Whatever the aim is but one thing is certain that the PCB will have to submit court fee and have to fulfill other necessary requirements.