Lahore, June 01: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has responded to skipper Shahid Afridi’s sudden decision to retire by suspending his central contract and putting together a showcause notice detailing several breaches of the code of conduct, which he will be expected to respond to within a week.
Announcing his retirement to a TV channel, the board said in a press release, was in itself a breach of Clause 2.1.4 of the Central Contract dealing with Covenants of the Cricketer.
Afridi’s criticism of the board officials in the same interview also constituted a breach. “In passing disparaging remarks about the board and its officials, Shahid Afridi is in breach of Clause 4.4 dealing with Media obligations.
“A showcause notice has been issued to him seeking his explanation on these comments. Afridi has been asked to respond to the letter within seven days. His central contract has been suspended with immediate effect. Consequently, all NOCs granted to him have been revoked. All payments on account of central contract have been suspended.” A day after Afridi’s outburst against the administration, and his decision to not play international cricket under PCB, the chairman Ijaz Butt said he was “disappointed” by the remarks and that the “retirement” was not an issue at all.
“It was disappointing to hear what he said,” Butt was quoted as saying by the ‘cricinfo’, and it wasn’t correct or true. It was wrong of him to do that. If he doesn’t want to play under this administration, then he’s welcome. We’ve detailed several instances where he has breached the code of conduct and will issue a showcause notice to him, which he has seven days to respond to.” Meanwhile, this is the second showcause notice sent to Afridi after the one which was handed to him for his comments about the team management after returning home from the Caribbean last month and disciplinary action, if any, is pending on that notice as well.
——Agencies