LAHORE: The Pakistan Super League (PSL) technical committee has rejected Lahore Qalandars’ Faqar Zaman’s request to review the match referee’s decision to suspend him for two matches, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Thursday.
According to the cricket board, Fakhar’s appeal was heard today by a PSL technical committee comprising Prof Javed Malik, Dr Mumraiz Naqshband and Mr Syed Ali Naqi, which after reviewing all the evidence and hearing submissions from the relevant persons, upheld the two-match ban imposed on left-arm umpire Mahna Mahna.
“The PSL Technical Committee comprising Prof Javed Malik, Dr Mumraiz Naqshband and Mr Syed Ali Naqi appealed today,” a PCB statement said.
“Having conducted a de novo inquiry, reviewed all the evidence and heard submissions from the concerned persons, the panel dismissed the appeal and confirmed the two-match ban imposed by match referee Roshan Mahanama,” it added.
The 35-year-old was charged with a Level 3 offense under Section 2.14 of the Rules of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel for allegedly breaching Law 41.3 of the Playing Conditions, which prohibits any act of altering the position of the ball during their PSL 2 match against rivals Kings on March 21.
As a result, he was banned for two matches on Tuesday, with match referee Mahnama holding a disciplinary hearing, taking the decision after a thorough review of all the evidence and giving Fakhar an opportunity for a personal hearing.
Meanwhile, Faqar, who denied the allegations throughout the disciplinary process, had sought a full disciplinary inquiry under the PSL Code of Conduct.
Controversy arose during the aforementioned match when the field umpires announced that they were trying to change the situation.
Ahead of the final over of Kings’ run chase, the match officials, Faisal and Sharfuthullah, gathered to inspect the ball and deemed its position altered, resulting in a five-run penalty for the Callanders.
The penalty reduced Kings to just nine for 14 in the final over as the 2020 champions rallied comfortably with three balls to spare.