Pakistan Batter Fined for Using a Palestine Flag on a Bat, PCB Intervened
Azam Khan, the batsman, was fined by match officials for wearing the Palestine flag on his bat, however the Pakistan Cricket Board has opted to waive the amount.
Reversing its judgment, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will not punish batsman Azam Khan for wearing the Palestine flag on his bat during a home match. Azam Khan wore a Palestine flag on his bat during Sunday’s National Stadium match between his Karachi Whites and Lahore Blues. Following that, Azam was fined 50% of the match cost. Nevertheless, the PCB chose to overlook the fine that the match referees had assessed after reviewing the situation.
“Azam Khan’s 50% fine imposed by match officials has been reviewed and waived by the Pakistan Cricket Board,” the PCB stated in a release.
After being found guilty of a level-I offense during his team’s National T20 Cup 2023–24 match against Lahore Blues at National Bank Stadium, Karachi, the wicketkeeper–batter for the Karachi Whites was fined half of his match money.
Azam was judged to have repeatedly disregarded an umpire’s instruction or directive during a match, in violation of Article 2.4 of the PCB Code of Conduct for Players and Players Support Personnel.
The PCB Cricket Operations Department and the player’s or team official’s cricket association must give their prior approval before any players or team officials may wear, exhibit, or otherwise communicate personal messages on their equipment.”
The International Cricket Council’s code of conduct states that “players shall not be allowed to display messages that carry political, religious, or racial activities or causes.”
50% of the young batter’s match fees were penalized. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which is a signatory to the ICC code of conduct, was informed earlier by the referee that the batter should not wear the unapproved insignia, which is the flag of Palestine, on his bat. A source close to the board notified Geo News of this.
Azam reportedly wore the same sticker throughout the previous two games, but the authorities did not notify or issue a warning to him before Sunday’s game.
Cricket enthusiasts and other people took to social media to express their outrage at the Board’s imposition of the fine.
Live television broadcast the match where Azam received his fine. He was competing against the Lahore Blues for the Karachi Whites.
Despite not having represented his country in cricket since 2021, Azam is still well-known in Pakistani circles for his big-hitting prowess in the T20 format and for being a fixture on franchise cricket circuits across the globe.
Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-battler Muhammad Rizwan also tweeted in favor of the Palestinian people in Gaza during the most recent ODI World Cup in India, but he avoided punishment from the ICC since they felt it was only his personal view.
