The Pakistan Cricket Board said that they will file a petition against the reduction of the three-year ban of Umar Akmal to 18 months.
A few weeks back, it may be recalled that Umar Akmal’s sentence has been halved from 3 years to 18 months after he has submitted an appeal. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board has been displeased and has decided to appeal against the Court of Arbitration for Sports’ (CAS) decision of halving the said punishment.
As per the PCB’s official statement, ‘The PCB takes matters relating to anti-corruption very seriously and firmly maintains a zero-tolerance approach. The PCB believes a senior cricketer like Umar Akmal was aware of the consequences when, after having attended a number of anti-corruption lectures at domestic and international level, having witnessed the consequences of indulging in corrupt conduct, still failed to report the approaches to the relevant authorities’.
‘The PCB doesn't take any pride in seeing a cricketer of Umar's stature being banned for corruption, but as a credible and respectable institution, we need to send out a loud and clear message to all our stakeholders that there will be no sympathy whatsoever for anyone who breaches the regulations’, the official statement added.
So far, the PCB has confirmed that they have already submitted a draft proposal about the legislation on criminalising corruption in sports. Should the PCB’s appeal be approved, then Akmal’s punishment for his anti-corruption code breaches will not end on August 21.
To know more about the PCB and the Pakistan Super League where Akmal used to play, check out Betwala.
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