Pakistan Cricket Board came to an agreement with Muhammad Irfan regarding the sanctions against him in the Pakistan spot-fixing scandal on Wednesday and suspended his contract for one year.
This was announced to the media by the PCB, while Irfan asked for the country's forgiveness on his failure to report the fact that bookies had approached him during the PSL tournament.
While addressing the media Irfan said, "You are aware that on March 14th the board called in and suspended me on the basis of two allegations, out of which I accept that it was my fault that I failed to let the board know when bookies approached me."
"PCB's code of conduct makes it clear that we have to report any such interaction immediately," Irfan said while accepting the responsibility for his inaction.
"I am formally asking the nation for their forgiveness and hope that I will be pardoned by them," Irfan said concluding his brief address.
PCB officials accepted that they believe that Irfan did not engage in any malpractice and his suspension is based solely on his failure to report the bookies' offer to PCB's Anti-Corruption Unit immediately.
The decision will be reviewed after a period of six months and at which point the contract may be restored.
PCB suspended the fast bowler following the investigations into the spot-fixing allegations on March 14.
Irfan had appeared before the PCB anti-corruption unit in Lahore on March 13 to answer allegation of him not reporting to the unit incident in which a bookie made a contact with him during the second HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The fast bowler was suspended and charge-sheeted over his alleged connections with bookies. The PCB had asked Irfan to submit his reply within 14 days.
There were reports that Irfan took the stance that he could not report to the unit because he was upset due to the death of his parents, who passed away one after other in a space of one year.
Along with Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif and Shahzaib Hasan, Irfan too was accused of allegedly meeting the bookie soon after the inaugural PSL match between Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United in Dubai.
The unit immediately sidelined prime suspects Sharjeel and Khalid, but allowed Irfan and Shahzaib to continue playing in the league after initial inquiries.
But after the end of the PSL final in Lahore last Sunday, both Irfan and Shahzaib were summoned by the anti-corruption unit.
Earlier this month, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had said that it will undertake forensic examination of available evidence on spot-fixing allegations during the PSL and the information provided by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to fix responsibility on people involved in it.
In a preliminary report submitted to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the premier investigation agency said it was looking into the matter pertaining to deletion of messages from mobile phones of players to find out which of them were in contact with bookies and what had been agreed upon between them.
The report, according to the Ministry of Interior, has identified some vital points with respect to steps taken to prevent spot-fixing during the PSL and the possibility of players’ involvement.
