Asia Cup: Pakistan stay on but Pycroft issue lingers as PCB sends second letter to ICC
Dubai (PTI): Pakistan may have withdrawn the threat to pull out of the Asia Cup but their objection to match referee Andy Pycroft still stands and the PCB has shot off another letter to the ICC demanding that the Zimbabwean be swapped with Richie Richardson for the team's remaining games.
It has been reliably learnt that late on Tuesday evening, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sent another mail to the ICC reiterating the demand to remove Pycroft from all its games but as of now, it hasn't been obliged by the world body.
Pycroft is due to officiate Pakistan's must-win game against the UAE later this evening.
The controversy began after Indian players led by skipper Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team at the end of their match on Sunday. Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha didn't attend the post-match presentation ceremony in protest.
PCB blamed Pycroft for the fiasco, saying that he asked Salman not to shake hands with Suryakumar and also did not allow the exchange of team-sheets between the two skippers as is the norm.
Suryakumar, on his part, stated that the decision to avoid handshakes with the cross-border rivals was a gesture of solidarity towards the victims of the Pakistan-backed Pahalgam terror attack and the Indian Armed Forces which carried out Operation Sindoor in retaliation.
Pakistan, however, labelled Indian players' actions as "unsporting", while blaming Pycroft for acting in a partisan manner. The accusations were followed by a pullout threat and a formal demand to have Pycroft removed by the ICC, which rejected the plea.
Pakistan stand to lose close to USD 16 million if they act on the threat and it would also be very poor optics for the country's cricket board which is headed by the current chair of the Asian Cricket Council, Mohsin Naqvi.
In its initial letter to the ICC, PCB had stated: "The match referee failed to discharge his responsibility: to ensure that respect was extended and maintained amongst the captains as well as between the two competing sides; and to create a positive atmosphere by his conduct and encourage the captains and participating teams to do likewise.
"In fact, the match referee's instructions to the two team captains were entirely directed towards achieving the opposite result. This misconduct violates Article 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Match Officials, which specifically makes it an offence for the Match Referee to conduct himself in a manner, which is contrary to the spirit of game and violates the MCC Laws."
"Given the gravity, political nature/background, and far-reaching consequences and repercussions, the misconduct has also caused disrepute to the game."
As per article 2.1.1 of ICC's Code of Conduct, "spirit of the game may be defined by reference to the Preamble to the Laws of Cricket and involves respect for, amongst others (a) the role of the umpires and (b) the game and its traditional values."
However, handshakes between rival players is a mere convention and not prescribed under any laws of the game.
Pakistan's leading daily, 'Dawn' has quoted a PCB source as saying that Pakistan team director Naveed Akram Cheema had been told that Pycroft was acting at the behest of BCCI.
"A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) source, requesting anonymity, told Dawn.com on Monday that Cheema had also approached tournament director Andy Russell with his concerns, upon which he was informed that the match referee had been acting at the behest of the BCCI," the report stated.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
