The spot-fixing saga in the ongoing IPL took a dramatic turn on Thursday (May 23) with International Cricket Council (ICC) withdrawing controversial Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf from the panel of match officials for the upcoming Champions Trophy in England as his role in the scandal is allegedly being investigated by Mumbai Police.
The ICC issued a media release stating that Rauf had been removed from the panel of umpires for the June 6 to 21 tournament.
“The decision has been made after media reports on Wednesday indicated that the umpire was under investigation by Mumbai Police,” the ICC release said.
Explaining the decision, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf’s activities, we feel that it is in Asad’s best interests as well as those of the sport and the event itself, that he is withdrawn from participating in the ICC Champions Trophy.”
Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Zaka Ashraf meanwhile said that he is unaware if Asad Rauf has done anything wrong.
The PCB had, in April this year, suspended international umpire Nadeem Ghauri for four years for agreeing to “extend undue favors for material gain” during a sting operation carried out by a Indian television channel in 2012.
Rauf was embroiled in a controversy last year when a small-time model named Leena Kapoor accused the Pakistani umpire of sexually exploiting her for months before refusing to marry her. The umpire though denied all the allegations back then.
As per the duty schedule of the on-field umpires, Rauf was supposed to officiate in a warm-up match between Australia and West Indies in Cardiff on June 1.
In the tournament group league stage, he was supposed to officiate in two matches in Cardiff. The first on June 9 was between Sri Lanka and New Zealand while other was between West Indies and South Africa.
It is not the first time an umpire has been linked with spot-fixing.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had banned international umpire Nadir Shah for 10 years after an Indian TV channel, India TV, exposed that he was apparently willing to fix matches for cash.
The TV channel also exposed Pakistani international umpire Nadeem Ghauri, who has also been slapped with a four-year ban by Pakistan Cricket Board.