ICC punishes PCB for multiple violations, including recording Andy Pycroft’s video

The ICC has now taken action against Pakistan and reprimanded the PCB for misconduct following the filming of the Andy Pycroft meeting.

The no-handshake controversy saga continues as the ICC now takes action against Pakistan and reprimands the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for misconduct following the filming of the Andy Pycroft meeting. PCB had earlier claimed that Pycroft apologised before the UAE clash.

ICC takes action against PCB.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has pulled up the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for “violation of multiple tournament rules” ahead of their final Group A Asia Cup 2025 clash against the UAE on Wednesday at the Dubai International Stadium. The team earlier had delayed the match by one hour in protest against the world body’s rejection of their demand to suspend match referee Andy Pycroft from the tournament. Their demand came from the handshake controversy in last Sunday’s Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan in Dubai, where the board blamed Pycroft for the fiasco. After the ICC rejected the plea, Pakistan shot another letter on the eve of their game against the UAE. Prior to the match, PCB also claimed that Pycroft apologised to the Pakistan camp.

ICC sends an email to the PCB.

According to a report by PTI, the ICC sent an email to the PCB just before the start of the game on Wednesday, citing “misconduct” and “multiple violations” of the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA) protocol. A tournament source told the news agency, “The ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta has written to the PCB stating that the board has been guilty of repeated PMOA violations on match day. PCB is in receipt of the e-mail.” The report also stated that, despite being warned of the violations, the PCB allowed media manager NaeemGillani to film the meeting. ICC had warned that media managers are barred from attending such meetings.

The source added, “PCB brought to the meeting their media manager and insisted that he be present during the conversation.” Naeem was refused entry by the ICC Anti-Corruption Manager because “he wanted to take his mobile phone into the PMOA. The ICC, in order to preserve the interest of the sport, the tournament and the stakeholders involved accepted PCB’s asks although this demonstrated a complete disregard for the sanctity of the PMOA, where the meeting took place.”