Daily Times

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Friday fined Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Rs100,000 for fielding an ineligible player Gohar Ali, who has been banned from participating in all PCB or city/district cricket association-organised events for two years. The CAA had fielded Gohar in their nine-wicket victory over Pakistan Navy in the Patron’s Trophy Grade-II opener at the UBL Sports Complex in Karachi from April 14-16. Following the conclusion of the match, Navy had lodged a protest, complaining breach of 2(a) of the PCB Playing Conditions and Rules for Domestic Tournaments, which reads as: “A player shall be bonafide employee of such department/service organization or, if contracted, must have minimum one-year contract or seasonal contract i.e. 1 October 2017 to 30 April 2018. Such player shall not be the employee of any other organization whether playing in domestic cricket or no.”

The decision against CAA and Gohar was announced yesterday following a detailed enquiry in which it was proven that the player had accepted a CAA contract despite being a full-time employee of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police. The PCB decision also means the nine points, which CAA had gained, have been awarded to Pakistan Navy, as per 5(b) of the PCB Playing Conditions and Rules for Domestic Tournaments, which reads as: “The team for which a player is in (a) above has played will be declared loser and full match points will be awarded to the opponent. The defaulter team will be allowed to play the remaining pool matches but would not be allowed to play in the next round/semi-final/final, even though it wins all remaining pool matches of the tournament.”

Semi-final line-up May 28-30:

Pakistan Navy v State Bank of Pakistan at Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad

HEC v Sabir’s Poultry at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi.