PCB to accept decision of appeals judge

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board said it was willing to accept any decision of the appeals judge who will begin hearing six cricketers against the bans and fines imposed on them by the board.
Justice (retired) Irfan Qadir will hold meetings with Younis Khan and the legal representatives of Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved to kick off proceedings to take a decision on the appeals filed by the players.
Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal have also lodged appeals against their fines, but they are presently in the West Indies for the World T20 Cup.
Wasim Bari the chief operating officer of the board said that the purpose of appointing an appeals judge was to give the players a fair chance to plead their case before an independent tribunal.
"It is not necessary that the honorable Judge will accept our recommendations of the bans and fines on the players and whatever decision he takes is acceptable to us," Bari said.
Bari headed the inquiry committee formed by the board to look into the causes of the poor performances of the team in Australia and into reports of infighting among players.
The inquiry committee recommended bans on Younis, Muhammad Yousuf, Malik and Rana and fines on the other three players.
Bari said that the decision against the players was a purely business and professional one and it was nothing personal. "Cricket is today a highly well paid profession and business and a business must be conducted like a business, you should not bring personalities into it," he said.
"Shoaib Malik invited me for his Valima and I attended it. So we have nothing against the players," he said.
Bari made it clear that the players should not feel disheartened and will get a fair hearing. "If the appeals judge does not accept our recommendations for the bans and fines, the players can comeback," he added.
Justice Qadir said that he would be basically hearing the viewpoint of the players and their legal representatives tomorrow. "I want to hear what they have to say and then I will decide whether to hold collective hearings of all players or separately."
Ahmed Qayyum, the legal advisor for Younis said his client would be appearing before the appeals judge tomorrow. "We want to know on what basis has the board imposed this ban on Younis. On what basis did the reach the conclusion that he didn't get along with Yousuf and they created problems in the team," he said. He said he would also request the appeals judge to hold on camera hearings and not behind closed doors so that the truth should come out.