PCB tribunal rejects Latif's appeal against ban

An appellate tribunal of Pakistan Cricket Board has rejected an appeal by international batsman Khalid Latif to set aside a five-year ban imposed on him by the Anti-Corruption unit of the PCB.

Karachi: An appellate tribunal of Pakistan Cricket Board has rejected an appeal by international batsman Khalid Latif to set aside a five-year ban imposed on him by the Anti-Corruption unit of the PCB.

The appellate tribunal, however, waived off a one million rupees fine which was also imposed on Latif last year by the anti-corruption unit.

Latif was banned last September for five years and fined one million rupees after being found guilty of six breaches of the PCB's anti-corruption code of conduct which included a charge of meeting with a suspected bookmaker, instigating other players and accepting an offer to spot-fix.

The anti-corruption tribunal had also imposed a five-year ban on Test batsman Sharjeel Khan for five breaches but suspended half of his ban. The PCB had also suspended other cricketers, Muhammad Irfan, Shahzaib Hasan and Nasir Jamshed in the Pakistan Super League spot-fixing scandal.

Sharjeel had also appealed his ban but the appellate tribunal dismissed his appeal.

The left-handed batsman has now filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court against his ban and the anti-corruption code of the Board.

Latif had also appealed against the ban but the PCB did not file any appeal for increasing the ban period on the batsman.

PCB's lawyer Taffazal Rizvi, however, said the Board did not appeal because it considered it enough.

While Sharjeel could be eligible to play cricket again after mid-2019, Latif's ban will run until 2022.