Umar Akmal’s suspension has been reduced to 18 months as announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday. So effectively he will be banned till August 2021.
The story
A three-year suspension was imposed on Pakistan batsman-keeper Umar Akmal on April 27 by the PCB’s Disciplinary Panel. He was accused of not reporting spot-fixing approaches made to him during the Pakistan Super League matches. So the board charged him for two breaches of Article 2.4.4 of its Anti-Corruption Code in two unrelated incidents in February. The code relates to: “Failing to disclose to the PCB Vigilance and Security Department (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under this Anti-Corruption Code”.
Umar Akmal later appealed against the suspension in May necessitating the appointment of an independent adjudicator. Finally, Umar Akmal’s suspension has been reduced to 18 months by former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd) Faqir Muhammad Khokhar. Effectively Akman’s ban will be effective from February 2020 till August 2021 now.
Umar Akmal to re-appeal?
Umar Akmal has played for Pakistan in 16 Tests, 121 ODIs, and 84 T20s where has managed to accumulate 1003, 3194, and 1690 runs respectively so far. After the hearing, the cricketer shared his relief with all. He said that he would try to get the ban reduced further. “I am thankful to the judge for listening to my lawyers properly,” Akmal said after the hearing. “I will decide about the remaining sentence and try to get it reduced further. For now I am not satisfied and will consult my lawyers and family how to take this ahead. There are many players before me who made mistakes and just look at what they got and what I got. So all I say right now is thank you very much.”
On the other hand, Umar’s counsel Tayyab Rizvi also said, “The punishment can be reduced further.” He mentioned that they were “grateful to the independent adjudicator for granting them relief” but the decision was “not what they had thought [it would be]”.
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