The fans who were caught indulging in violence after the rather infamous match between Pakistan and Afghanistan were caught by the police of the United Arab Emirates. They have been charged with a heavy fine for causing all the disruption.
Pakistan secured a rather thrilling victory against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in Sharjah this week. This was met with a great deal of hostility from the Afghan fans, who resorted to physically exhibiting their aggression. They caused a great deal of property damage as well.
The videos of the stadium being vandalised went viral after the match on Wednesday.
Sharjah Police has imposed a fine of AED 3,000, which rounds up to almost 190,000 Pakistan Rupees, upon the spectators who were partaking in this rather horrible show of events. Warnings have been handed out to these spectators as well, who have been openly threatened that in the event of the occurrence of such an event in the future, they will be immediately deported.
Naseem Shah hitting the legendary sixes off Fazalhaq Farooqi during the final over made the match so much more legendary and also allowed the national team to secure a spot in the final of the tournament, which is to be held on Sunday.
Trouble reportedly started when the Afghan pace bowler Fareed Ahmad got into a rather heated argument with Pakistan’s Asif Ali.
Asif Ali, all riled up, gestured with his bat in response to Fareed’s behavior before the players and the umpire jumped in to dissipate the tension.
The tension was diffused from the field, but soon the Afghan fans’ videos started trending on social media where they were uprooting chairs in the stadium and aiming them specifically at the green shirts.
Ramiz Raja, Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), criticised the behavior, saying, “You don’t identify hooliganism with cricket and this is unacceptable.”
“This game doesn’t want such an environment. The visuals were really bad. This wasn’t the first time such a thing happened. Emotions should be kept in check. We own our fans and we lodge a protest with the ICC (International Cricket Council).