Asia Cup 2025: ICC Takes Action Against Pakistan

Asia Cup 2025: Prior to the Group A match of the Asia Cup 2025, the International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a notice to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for "violation of several tournament rules." This notice was given before the match against UAE. PCB delayed the match as a protest after its demand to remove the match referee, Andy Prekroft, from the tournament.

Handshake dispute and PCB demand

The dispute started with the handshake controversy in the India-Pakistan match last Sunday. PCB attributed Priqront to the incident and demanded the removal of them. The ICC turned down the demand, after which the PCB sent another letter before the match and instructed its players not to leave the hotel room.

Delay in match and board meeting

PCB held a meeting in the presence of Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, his successor Najam Sethi, and Ramiz Raja, which stopped the match for about an hour. The players were later allowed to play the match. PCB claimed on social media that Prikroft apologized, although the audio was closed in the video.

ICC warning to PCB

The ICC sent an email to PCB, stating the misconduct and PMOA (Players and Match Officials Area) rules. PCB, despite warnings, allowed his media manager Naeem Gilani to attend the meeting, which was against the rules. The ICC admitted the PCB's final demand to meet the Prekroft team captain and manager before the toss before the match.

The PCB insisted on bringing the media manager there and allowed the meeting to record the audio, which the ICC described as another violation of the PMOA rules.

The ICC's Position

The ICC clarified that the video shared by PCB expressed only regret over the wrong communication, contrary to the PCB claim. The ICC said that the purpose of accepting the demands of the board was to protect the interest of sports and tournaments.