Ghauri said he will take his case to the PCB to rid himself of the ban, while hinting towards a legal battle if his plea for justice was ignored. PHOTO: AFP
He also hinted at the possibility of taking the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to court if his plea was ignored.
Ghauri was banned along with Anis Siddiqui, who received a three-year ban, after the two umpires were found guilty by the PCB committee. The committee had probed into the duo’s role in India TV’s sting operation last October through which corruption allegations against six umpires had surfaced.
Ghauri, a former Test cricketer who officiated in five Tests, 43 One-Day Internationals and four Twenty20 internationals, refused to accept the charges against him.
“There is no truth to it,” Ghauri told reporters at a press conference in Lahore yesterday. “I will never accept the charges against me. I have been punished for a sin that I have not committed. My only mistake was to keep a friendly conversation going. I was unaware of what they were up to.
“They just posed as if they were offering a contract for a league event in Sri Lanka. The offer they placed was lucrative and any umpire would have been attracted towards it.
“It included $4,500 for a match and Rs100,000 for a month, even during the off season. However, I still asked them to approach the PCB first to get the required documents,” said the 50-year-old official.
‘PCB took one-sided action’
Ghauri expressed complete discontent over the investigation carried out by the PCB committee.
“I wasn’t provided the chance to present my version,” he said. “They just called me once and never contacted me after that.
“I only learnt about the decision through the media. I am still to get a correspondence from the PCB regarding my ban.”
The embattled umpire said he will request PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf to give him justice.
“I will make an appeal after receiving the letter of my ban from the PCB.”
Meanwhile, Ghauri also hinted at a legal battle with the PCB in case he was to be ignored.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 15th, 2013.
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I am not supporting Ghauri but how an international Umpire can be suspended without any formal investigation by any committee and giving a chance to him clarify. If tomorrow some international forces stress to suspend Aleem Dar then will PCB will do it. Is there any system working in PCB?