Council to decide Aamir's fate on Wednesday (10 May 1997)

10 May 1997

Council to decide Aamir's fate on Wednesday

By Our Sports Reporter

KARACHI, May 9: The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah Bokhari, has summoned a special meeting of the Executive Council on Wednesday (May 14) to consider the appeal submitted by Aamir Sohail against a two-year ban imposed on him last month. According to a PCB Press release, the meeting will be held at 11:00 a.m. at the Qadhafi Stadium `to consider the unconditional apology submitted by Aamir Sohail'.

The Press statement further stated the PCB Chairman, Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah Bokhari, exercised his prerogative under article 9 of PCB Constitution to convene the meeting at a shorter notice. It is being anticipated that the Executive Council may reverse its decision of endorsing the Disciplinary Committee's decision of two-year ban on Aamir Sohail for making betting and match-fixing allegations against some of his team-mates.

The Aamir Sohail episode has reached this sensitive stage purely due to the interest taken and intervention made by the government through Mr Mushahid Husain, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Sports, who Sunday last had submitted a compromise formula, also agreed by the PCB Chairman.

On the basis of that formula, Aamir Sohail on Wednesday filed a petition in which he appealed to the Executive Council to reverse its earlier decision so that he could resume his career as a professional cricketer. It may be mentioned here that the PCB Chairman had promised Mr Mushahid Husain that if Aamir Sohail filed an appeal, the PCB Executive Council, the higher body of the cricket board, in return, would lift the ban. According to the PCB Constitution, any decision earlier endorsed by the Executive Council, can only be reversed by the same Executive Council. "The PCB Chairman has made it clear that since the punishment had been ratified by the PCB Council, therefore, neither the Chairman nor the Executive Council had the authority to exonerate Aamir Sohail," the PCB Press release added.

It is difficult to gauge the attitude of the Disciplinary Committee members who are likely to watch helplessly their decision get overturned by the Council. Cricket history doesn't show any major decision taken by the Disciplinary Committee without the support of the Executive Council. The Disciplinary Committee, as one sees the powers of the Council or the General Body, is not autonomous in character. It will have to bow to the action of the Council in the interest of cricket of the country whatever the Code of Conduct may say. Besides, the Government too wants leniency to be shown to a player of a high stature. The Council's decision, as one expects, will be in accord with the formula evolved by Mr Mushahid Husain.

Source:: Dawn (https://xiber.com/dawn/)