PCB in big trouble as ICC pulls up cricket board for Asia Cup drama; Pakistan guilty of misconduct, repeated violations

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) found itself in hot water on Thursday after the International Cricket Council (ICC) pulled up the body for several violations and misconduct before their Asia Cup 2025 clash against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday.

The Pakistan vs UAE clash was delayed by an hour after the Men in Green protested ICC's rejection of its demand to remove match referee Andy Pycroft.

The controversy stemmed after the India vs Pakistan clash on September 14, when Suryakumar Yadav's men avoided handshakes in solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. Following the incident, Pakistan threatened to withdraw from the tournament and demanded Pycroft's removal.

After the ICC denied the request for Pycroft's removal as match referee, Pakistan arrived late to the stadium for their match against the UAE and allegedly violated several protocols despite repeated warnings.

According to a PTI report, ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta sent a letter to the PCB.

"The ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta has written to the PCB stating that the board has been guilty of repeated Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA) violations on match day. PCB is in receipt of the e-mail," a tournament source told PTI.

What did PCB do?

According to the report, Pakistan breached PMOA regulations by allowing media manager Naeem Gillani to film a meeting between Pycroft, its head coach Mike Hesson and captain Salman Ali Agha before the toss. ICC rules bar media managers from such meetings.

To resolve tensions from the previous match, the ICC agreed to a pre-toss meeting between Pycroft, the Pakistan team captain and the manager.

"The purpose was to eradicate any regrettable misunderstanding or miscommunication which may have arisen at the time of the toss," the tournament source said.

"PCB brought to the meeting their media manager and insisted that he be present during the conversation," he added. The Media manager was refused entry by the ICC Anti-Corruption Manager because he wanted to take his mobile phone into the PMOA, which is tightly regulated.

The source added that the PCB threatened to withdraw from the match if the media manager was not allowed to attend and then insisted on filming (without audio) the conversation, which was a “further violation of the PMOA regulations.”

"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," the source said.

ICC officials were reportedly unaware of how PCB planned to use the filmed footage. The world body has also taken exception to a PCB media release that claimed Pycroft had "apologised", when in fact he had merely expressed regret over a miscommunication.

Earlier, PCB media manager Waseem was also denied entry into a subsequent PMOA meeting, where filming is strictly prohibited.

(With PTI inputs)