LAHORE (Pakistan): Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all cricket for three years after a disciplinary panel on Monday found him guilty of breaking his country’s anti-corruption codes.
Umar was charged with two breaches of Article 2.4.4 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code in two unrelated incidents on 17 March.
The 29-year-old right-hander who has played 200 internationals across three formats of the game since 2009, was charged last month with two unrelated breaches of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Anti-Corruption Code.
The clause under which Umar was found guilty relates to a failure to inform authorities about approaches to engage in corrupt practices, including match-fixing or spot-fixing.
“He cannot play cricket at any level now. The detailed verdict will be issued by the panel later,” a PCB spokesman said.
PCB Director – Anti-Corruption and Security, Lt Col Asif Mahmood, said: “The PCB doesn’t take any pleasure in seeing a promising international cricketer being declared ineligible for three years on corruption charges, but this is once again a timely reminder to all who think they can get away by breaching the anti-corruption code.
On 9 April, the PCB referred the matter to Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee after determining that the batsman had not requested for a hearing before the Anti-Corruption Tribunal.
“I request all professional cricketers to stay away from the menace of corruption and immediately inform relevant authorities as soon as they are approached. This is in their as well as their teams’ and country’s best interest,” added Mahmood.
