Daily Times

LAHORE: An independent adjudicator, Justice (r) Hamid Farooq, has upheld the 10-year ban that had been imposed on former Pakistan cricketer Nasir Jamshed two months ago. The adjudicator, however, “set aside” two sanctions against Jamshed because they fell outside the confines provided under the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) anti-corruption code. Jamshed was banned in August from playing any level of cricket after a three-man tribunal found him guilty of five of the seven breaches of the PCB’s anti-corruption code. The tribunal had also prohibited authorities from giving him any role in management or administration of the game in future, while also instructing cricketers and stakeholders to avoid him.

Jamshed, who played 48 one-day internationals and two Tests, had filed an appeal against the anti-corruption tribunal’s verdict and the independent adjudicator announced the order on Monday. According to the adjudicator, a 10-year ban imposed on Jamshed was “perfectly justified” and would continue to remain in force. Jamshed was also handed a life ban earlier from being involved in the management or administration of cricket, but got a relief when the adjudicator announced that that particular sanction would not hold after a 10-year period.

Jamshed had already served a year-long ban separately that only ended earlier this year after an anti-corruption tribunal found him guilty of non-cooperation in the 2017 PSL spot-fixing case. Later, the PCB charged him with seven violations of their anti-corruption code because he was, according to the board, the “linchpin” connecting several corruption cases. The whole case was built upon him being a central figure in the corruption scandal for approaching and soliciting other players for fixing.

In separate proceedings, the National Crime Agency (NCA) in England is also involved in investigations emanating from the allegations of the spot-fixing case. The NCA is yet to reach a conclusion in their investigations yet after initially arresting and subsequently releasing Jamshed on bail. Out of the six players to be punished in the PSL spot-fixing case, Jamshed’s punishment was the heaviest. The other five players — Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Irfan and Shahzaib Hasan — were all fined and banned on separate charges.

Published in Daily Times, October 23^rd 2018.