“The highest level of offense”: What does the PCB letter say to the CPI on the controversy of the handshake at the Asian Cup? | Cricket news
The refusal of the Indian cricket team to shake hands with the Pakistani players after their clash of the Asian Cup in Dubai sparked a major controversy, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) demanding the withdrawal of the match referee Andy Pycroft. The incident occurred after the victory of India in seven gates, the Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav declaring that the gesture was in solidarity with the families of the victims of terrorist attacks of Pahalgam, where 26 tourists were killed by terrorists supported by Pakistan.The PCB increased the case to both the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and at the International Cricket Council (ICC), expressing a strong incident disapproval.
As Timesofindia.com has reported, Pakistan has threatened to withdraw from the tournament if Pycroft is not deleted, although this seems unlikely since the position of the chief of the PCB Mohsin Naqvi as the CAC chief and leadership of the ICC under Jay Shah of India. In addition, Timesofindia.com had also indicated that ICC would reject PCB requests.What does PCB say in the letter to ICC?According to local media DawnThe PCB letter to the ICC said: “It is alarming to note that a matched and allegedly neutral match referee has chosen to engage in conduct, which clearly violates the spirit of the laws of cricket and MCC.“The referee of the match failed to pay his responsibility: to ensure that respect has been extended and maintained between the captains as well as between the two competing teams; And to create a positive atmosphere by its conduct and encourage captains and participating teams to do the same.“In fact, the instructions of the referee of the match in the two team captains were entirely oriented towards the achievement of the opposite result. This fault violates article 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for the leaders of the match, which specifically makes it an offense for the referees of the match to behave in a way, which is contrary to the spirit of the game and violates the laws of the MCC.“Given the seriousness, political nature / history and large -scale consequences and repercussions, misconduct also slowed down the game.The PCB letter added that “we believe that the highest level of offense has been committed”.Earlier Monday, PCB Cheif Naqvi said they were going to file a complaint with the ICC.“The PCB has filed a complaint with the ICC concerning the violations of the match referee of the CPI code of conduct and the laws of the MCC concerning the spirit of the cricket. The PCB demanded an immediate withdrawal from the match referee of the Asian Cup,” Naqvi said on the social media platform.The PCB claims that Pycroft asked the Pakistani captain Salman Ali Agha not to shake hands with his Indian counterpart during the draw.At the post-match press conference, Suryakumar Yadav clearly indicated the position of the team. “Together, we came here, we appealed and I think we came here just to play the game. I think we gave the right answer,” said Suryakumar.Asked about political motivations, Suryakumar said: “I think little in life is also ahead of the sportsman’s mind. We are sticking with the victims of Pahalgam’s terrorist attack and devote this victory to our armed forces.”
