PCB to spend ₹22L on Umar Akmal case in Switzerland after failing to pay its groundstaff?

The drama surrounding the Umar Akmal ban doesn't seem to end. On Monday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed that it will file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), in Lausanne, Switzerland after an independent adjudicator, Justice (retd) Faqir Muhammad Khokar reduced the Umar Akmal ban from 3 years to 18 months. Justice Khokar also gave the 30-year-old and the PCB the option of filing an appeal with the CAS against his decision.

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PCB to spend ₹22 lakh on appeal against Umar Akmal ban reduction amidst financial problems?

According to sources, the PCB is set to spend at least PKR 5 million (₹22 lakh) on the aforesaid case, which can also double. A foreign legal firm will also be hired to present the PCB’s case. The PCB spending such a huge amount on Umar Akmal ban comes as a surprise considering the financial problems the board has been facing in the recent past.

The PCB is already going through torrid times financially as they have been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly, the PCB was struggling to find a sponsor ahead of the England vs Pakistan 2020 series. Then, ground staff from across Pakistan sought help and wrote a 'long' letter to Prime Minister of Pakistan and the PCB patron-in-chief Imran Khan in which they urged him to redress their grievances along with an appeal for the payment of their salaries.

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Even former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar recently said that the PSL is facing an economic crisis and some of the owners are looking to sell their teams. To make matters worse, it was revealed that the PCB officials spent ₹3 crore (PKR 8 crore) overseas in the last two years under 'special allowances'. With so many important issues to be resolved, PCB spending a lot of money on their Umar Akmal ban decision is highly questionable.

Umar Akmal ban: Kamran Akmal slams PCB for unjust treatment of his brother 

The PCB's decision to appeal against the Umar Akmal ban reduction hasn't gone down well with Kamran Akmal. Kamran Akmal said that in the past, players had been banned for a short duration of three to six months and even had their fines reduced for the same offence but in Umar’s case, the PCB is not even content with the 18 months ban on him.

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Kamran Akmal further added that his younger brother is being treated unjustly because in the past he had always cooperated with the authorities in such cases. The 38-year-old reckoned that this time as well, Umar admitted the mistake of not reporting the matter to the authorities. Kamran stated that even the reduced 18 months ban is hard on Umar Akmal, who was banned from all representative cricket by the PCB in April. Umar Akmal had accepted the charges pressed against him and said circumstances led to him not reporting it to the board.

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IMAGE COURTESY: AP