Khalid Latif may face ban upto 10 years

Photo: AP

Karachi: Pakistan batsman Khalid Latif is likely to be handed a ban of upto 10 years by the three-member Anti-Corruption Tribunal of the PCB.

The Tribunal headed by a former Judge of the Lahore High Court is expected to announce its verdict on Khalid's spot- fixing case on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Tribunal has imposed a five-year ban on another Pakistan batsman Sharjeel Khan for similar offences in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) this year.

Sharjeel and Khalid were sent home from Dubai at the start of the PSL in February after being suspended under the PCB's anti-corruption code.

A top PCB official said that the tribunal, which also included a former Chairman of the board and former Test captain Wasim Bari, could end up finding Khalid guilty on all eight counts of breaching the PCB's anti-corruption code.

"The PCB has levelled eight charges, four of them serious ones against Khalid and if they are all accepted by the tribunal it could end up banning the batsman for at least 10 years," he told PTI.

Khalid is facing an additional charge of coaxing and influencing Sharjeel to meet a bookmaker and involve in spot- fixing in the PSL.

Khalid's lawyer Badr Alam, perhaps expecting the worse, on Saturday filed a petition in the Supreme Court for his client questioning the formation of the tribunal and its bias towards his client.

In the petition, the plea said that the tribunal was biased towards Khalid and that he had not been given a fair chance to plead his case by the tribunal.

"The tribunal is also not happy with the attitude of Khalid and his lawyer during the hearings," an official said.

Earlier Khalid's lawyer had also filed petitions in the Lahore High Court, challenging its authority but the court dismissed them.

The official said one reason why Sharjeel got a five-year ban with half of it suspended despite being found guilty of breaching five clauses of the anti-corruption code was because he and his lawyer cooperated with the tribunal and their behaviour was good during all the hearings.

"That apparently is not the way the tribunal feels about Khalid," said the official.

Khalid and Sharjeel formed the opening pair for Pakistan in T20 format and were representing Islamabad United in the PSL when they were sent home from Dubai.