Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday questioning what authority they had to ban him.
“What authority does the BCCI or IPL have to ban me when the court in Mumbai told the police they had no evidence against me?” questioned Rauf, a day after the Indian board banned him for five years.
Rauf was nominated as an ‘accused wanted’ by the Mumbai Police in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) corruption probe. However, Rauf hit back at the BCCI saying that the case presented against him was flawed.
“The BCCI and IPL appointed an investigation commissioner and they claimed I fled from India without completing my IPL assignment which is not true. I completed all my assignments and left India in fact one day after my assignments ended,” clarified Rauf.
“The court said Rauf earns more than Rs3 million a month so accepting small gifts like jeans, t-shirts or caps is not a big issue,” he added. “The BCCI and IPL appointed commissioner Ravi Sawani didn’t even bother to check when I left India and made accusations against me to the police.”
Earlier on Friday, the BCCI’s disciplinary committee found Rauf guilty of corruption and misconduct ‘within the meaning of’ articles 2.2.2, 2.3.2, 2.3.3 and 2.4.1 of the board’s Anti-corruption Code.
He is now barred from officiating in any of the matches and events which are conducted under the BCCI.
The International Cricket Coucil (ICC) has earlier published a press release soon after the news emerged that Rauf was wanted by police for questioning. ICC stated in the press release that they had stopped Rauf from umpiring in the ICC Champions Trophy in England. Moreover, he was also dropped from the Elite Panel of Umpires but the ICC clarified that it was not because of the corruption scandal.
Rauf made his first international appearance as an umpire in 2000, officiating in an ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He was included in the Elite Panel in 2006 and has officiated in 49 Tests, 98 ODIs and 23 T20 internationals.
