Shoaib’s five year ban reduced to 18 months

Jun 15

Shoaib Akhtar’s five-year ban has been reduced to 18 months by the PCB-appointed appellate tribunal, but he will have to pay a fine of Rs 7 million (approx US$105,000). The Pakistan board had, on April 1, banned him on various disciplinary grounds.”The tribunal has taken the decision [to reduce Shoaib's ban] with a clear conscience and under no pressure from either the board or anyone else,” Justice (retd) Aftab Farrukh, the head of the three-man tribunal, said in Karachi, adding that it was an unanimous decision.

Explaining the tribunal’s verdict, Farrukh said: “We also took into consideration the past record of Shoaib and that he had publicly apologised for his behaviour and past deeds. He has promised to reform himself and we have also recommended to the board that he should be given proper counselling.”Another member of the tribunal, Naveed Chaudhry, was pushing for the complete removal of the ban, with the provision of higher fine, but was overruled. “I wanted him [Shoaib] to play but pay a hefty fine of 20 million, but the other two members thought otherwise.” The third member, former Test cricketer Haseeb Ashan, did not attend the meeting, but gave his consent over telephone. Meanwhile, Shoaib’s lawyer, Abid Hasan Minto, said that he may pursue a further appeal against the reduced ban. “We will take a decision after going through the long and detailed order of the tribunal.”

Is it right for Shoaib Akhtar to have got his ban reduced? Do leave a comment and let us know what you think.

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3 Comments

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  1. lywyre
    Jun 16 at 01:58

    Shoaib is where the fun is!…. of course it is good that his ban is reduced. Thank god they got him into the IPL… Lucky Shoaib though getting his ban reduced from 5 years to just 18 months.

  2. skitz
    Jun 16 at 04:39

    Wow! That is quite a big cut in the ban. Shoaib must have been on his best behaviour at the IPL.

  3. Walter Mauri
    Jun 16 at 04:42

    Shoaib is such a harmless character. There was no need for that ban in the first place. Sports should be full of expression and joy, not something restricted. Sreesanth had some idea of what that meant, but they seemed to have tamed him as well.

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