Afridi faces Rs50m fine, ban

All-rounder pleads guilty to breaching code of conduct, released by Hampshire.

LAHORE:

Pakistan’s retired all-rounder Shahid Afridi faces a hefty fine of Rs50 million and a minimum 15-match ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) following his controversial decision to retire from international cricket and breaching various clauses in the code of conduct.

Afridi announced his international retirement protesting the PCB’s decision to remove him from One-Day International captaincy as well as the treatment meted out to him. The board, in response to the harsh criticism and the choice of words used against it, suspended his central contract, revoked all NOCs handed out to him and sent him a notice.

While Afridi has sent a reply to the notice, he faces heavy penalties unless the all-rounder and the board find an amicable solution to the problem. Afridi, though, has contacted President Asif Ali Zardari, also the chief patron of the board, to intervene and resolve the situation.

“Afridi faces a hefty penalty given his breaches,” a PCB official told The Express Tribune. “He gave the board no other choice as discipline comes first and foremost.

“Penalising the player due to ill-discipline is mandatory as his recent behavior crossed all the limits.”

No Hampshire for Afridi

England county Hampshire have released Afridi from his Twenty20 contract after the England and Wales Cricket (ECB) suspended his registration as an overseas player following the PCB’s decision to revoke the NOC.

At the same time, Afridi’s future with the Sri Lankan Premier League is also in doubt. The league’s spokesperson Bryan Thomas, while talking to The Express Tribune, confirmed that they have received the PCB’s letter but are yet to take any action on the issue.

The league is scheduled to take place end of July and start of August but without the required NOC from the PCB, Afridi will not be able to take part in it.

Selector hits out at Afridi

Meanwhile, national selector Mohammad Ilyas hit out at Afridi for blasting the cricket board, insisting that the all-rounder must think before making any harsh statement.

“Being such a big name, he was given enormous backing,” said Ilyas. “Otherwise a player who lets the country down on various occasions is not given such backing. The PCB backed him and appointed him captain. He wouldn’t be in the playing-eleven if it wasn’t for the PCB.”

Afridi had said that Ilyas has a one-point agenda and that was to get his son-in-law [Imran Farhat] included in the squad.

“Ilyas did nothing but conspire against me. He just wanted Farhat in the squad.”

Imran Khan

“The board is not run like an institution. Afridi feels injustice is done so he has taken a decision. Just recently everyone was praising Afridi after he led Pakistan to the semi-final of the World Cup and then suddenly this happened.”



Iqbal Qasim

“Afridi shouldn’t have crossed the line. But if he had made the mistake, being the captain the PCB should have handled it in a professional manner. Pakistan cricket is suffering from various problems and the PCB-Afridi issue has made us laughing stock in the world.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2011.