Umamageshwari Maruthapan
The Court of Arbitration has reduced the ban on Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal from 18 months to 12 months. Said Court has also permitted him to reintegrate into competitive cricket provided he pays a fine of Rs. 4.25 million.
The penalty imposed on the cricketer is for violating the provisions under Article 2.4.4 of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Anti-corruption Code.
According to the code, players are bound to inform about corruption related approaches to them failing to which they will be subject to imprisonment of 5 years.
In this case, Akmal, in one of his interviews, had revealed about the corrupt approaches that came to him. However, he had allegedly not reported about the same to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
In April 2020, the PCB ordered a ban for 3 years and imposed Rs. 4.25 Million as fine. On appeal by Akmal, the period was reduced to 18 months by an independent adjudicator in July 2020.
The above order was challenged before the Court of Arbitration by both, the cricketer as well as the PCB on different grounds.
Furthermore, the PCB also gave a reminder to all the players to abide by the rules under the Anti-corruption Code.
“The PCB once again urges and reminds all participants to abide by their duty and promptly report any approaches to the anti-corruption officers and help themselves as well as the anti-corruption unit’s effort to eliminate the anathema of fixing,” it said.