Former cricketer slams PCB for being ‘harsh on Umar Akmal’

LAHORE: Former Test fast bowler Aamer Nazir is angry with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over its treatment of Umar Akmal.

The fast bowler, in an online media interaction with reporters, said the board was being harsh on Umar. “The PCB’s decision to go to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport is a vote of no confidence against its own system. The decision will damage the country’s reputation. The Independent Adjudicator first sentenced him to three years and then reduced it to one and a half years. Isn’t the Board’s distrust of this decision surprising?” he questioned.

He said why the Zero Tolerance Policy was not applicable to the players named in Justice Qayyum Commission report. “On one hand, PCB is filing an appeal before the International Arbitration Court against the decisions of its own independent adjudicator. And on the other hand, in the past, players were banned for just six months in such cases,” he said.

“Where was the Zero Tolerance Policy when its partner company was involved with a betting syndicate? When the company apologised PCB just came up with a word of appreciation for them. This is absurd,” he added.

He further said the majority of the cricketers who were fined in the Justice Qayyum Commission are working with the cricket board. “Is that report not relevant? Decisions need to be made impartially to end corruption in cricket,” he stressed.