Umar Akmal leaves Pakistan to play league cricket in California
Cricket | October 05, 2021 11:24 ISTAkmal had recently completed his ban for breaching PCB's anti-corruption code.
Akmal had recently completed his ban for breaching PCB's anti-corruption code.
Akmal admitted that the period had been "very difficult for him".
A source in the PCB confirmed that Akmal had deposited the fine imposed on him by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in February.
Umar, 30, has not played any cricket since February 2020 when he was suspended by the PCB for not reporting spot-fixing approaches made to him.
Paying the fine would pave the way for him to return to cricket after serving a ban for breaching clauses of the Anti-Corruption code.
Akmal was banned for three years from all cricket by the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Tribunal in February last year. Later, the ban was reduced to 18 months by an Independent Adjudicator.
Umar was initially suspended from all cricket activities on February 20 last year for not reporting approaches made to him for spot-fixing in the Pakistan Super League.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) held a seven-hour virtual hearing, chaired by an England-based adjudicator, who reserved the verdict after listening to the arguments.
The development comes right after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appealed in the CAS against the reduction of a three-year ban on Akmal by an independent adjudicator.
Kamran said in the past players had been banned for short terms of three to six months and even had their fines reduced for the same offence but in Umar's case, the PCB is not even satisfied with the 18 months ban on him.
An independent adjudicator had reduced Akmal’s ban from 36 months to 18 months after the Pakistan middle-order batsman appealed the suspension's length.
In June, Danish Kaneria had appealed to the PCB to lift the life ban imposed on him in 2013. However, the PCB responded by asking him to approach the ECB to get his ban revoked.
Umar, was in April, been banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board from all forms of cricket for three years after pleading guilty to failing to report match-fixing approaches.
Kamran Akmal has come out in support of brother Umar Akmal, stating that the team management should've handled him better.
Akmal was banned for three-years on April 27 by the PCB's Disciplinary Panel, for not reporting spot fix approaches made to him during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches.
Akmal was banned from the sport for three years for breaching the PCB Anti-Corruption Code in two separate incidents.
PCB had banned Akmal from all forms of cricket last month after its disciplinary panel found him guilty of not reporting corrupt approaches ahead of the Pakistan Super League earlier this year.
Akmal was found guilty of two charges under the PCB Anti-Corruption Code and on April 27, he was banned from cricket activities till February 19, 2023.
Umar Akmal will now be eligible to make a return to cricket on February 19, 2023.
Zulqarnain Haider also said that the three-year ban on Umar Akmal is too lenient.
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