PCB defends Irfan’s match-fixing ban
Pakistan chief says sentence just after accusations of leniency from former players and experts
>> KARACHI: A top Pakistan cricket official on Thursday defended a one-year ban for fast bowler Mohammad Irfan, saying there will be zero tolerance on corruption in the sport.
Irfan, 34, is the first casualty of the spot-fixing case which surfaced during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) held in February-March this year.
Four other players — Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan and Nasir Jamshed — were also provisionally suspended in February and face lengthy bans.
Irfan, the tallest-ever international cricketer at over seven feet, was also fined one million rupees (US$10,000) for an “agreed sanction” after he confessed to the charges.
Irfan’s ban includes six months suspended and if he co-operates with authorities he can return to international cricket, a sentence which some former players and experts believe too lenient.
But PSL chairman Najam Sethi said the rules were followed in handing down punishment to Irfan.
“Irfan has been punished according to the rules in the code that are in some ways stricter than even ICC (International Cricket Council) rules,” Sethi told AFP.
Under the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) anti-corruption code the punishment for “not reporting an offer” is from six months to a life ban.
A two-member delegation of the PCB will go to England next month to question Jamshed, who allegedly played the “go between” role between the players and a bookie.
Jamshed and an unnamed person were arrested by Britain’s National Crime Agency last month before they were released on bail.
Sethi said no one will be spared in fixing cases.
“We shall show zero tolerance for such corrupt activities and will continue to monitor players’ conduct on and off the field,” said Sethi, who is also the chairman of PCB’s executive committee.
ICC POSITIVE ON OLYMPICS
The time is right for cricket to bid to become an Olympic sport with the 2024 Games being eyed as a strong possibility, International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive David Richardson said on Thursday.
The 57-year-old South African — who was the national side’s wicketkeeper for seven years when they were welcomed back into the international arena in the 1990s — said that added exposure in the Olympics would help to globalise the game.
“I think a majority of the (ICC) members and certainly myself think the time is right,” Richardson told a small group of journalists after speaking at the SportsPro Live conference in London.
“I think we have come to the conclusion the overall benefit to globalise it and grow the game will outweigh any negatives.
“We need to make a decision I would guess by July this year because I believe the IOC will in September be considering new sports for 2024.”
Appropriately one of the two remaining candidates to host the 2024 global sporting extravaganza is Paris where cricket was last played at a Games in 1900 — Great Britain beating the only other entrant France by 158 runs.
“Neither Los Angeles and Paris would be disasters and each might hold opportunities for us, especially the United States option,” said Richardson.
“In Europe, too, it would be good although we would have to spend a bit more on cricket pitches in France than the US but it’s not impossible.”
Richardson, who has been in his post since June 2012, admitted the scheduling, especially if held in Paris, would be the biggest challenge.
“From an ICC perspective the most challenging part is the scheduling as the Olympic Games is normally held in the Northern Hemisphere summer,” said Richardson.
“It could be a problem for England, who for instance wouldn’t want to send their best players during an Ashes series and they have raised that concern in the past.”
That could be problematic as one of the IOC’s stipulations to sports wishing to gain entry is that the best players turn up — golf’s return to the Games last year was marred with several of the top stars withdrawing.
Richardson, though, says the ICC can ensure the best do turn up.
“To some extent you can control that,” he said.
“In the participation agreements there is a clause that all the best available players must be selected.”
Richardson, who said there would be regional qualifying and finals and then an Olympic qualifier, said Twenty20 would be the perfect fit.
“Twenty20 is the ideal format and would be even better than [rugby] sevens, we would say, as it is one of the mainstream formats of cricket,” he said.