The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Asia Cup is under the scrutiny of the ICC after allegedly violating several tournament rules before the match against UAE in 2025. The controversy arising out of the violation of the protocol before the match has increased tension between the world institution and Pakistan cricket officials, which raise questions on possible disciplinary action. The ICC has marked the PCB for “misconduct” and PMOA violations.
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sent a tough email to PCB during the Asia Cup, citing the “abuse” of players and match officials (PMOA) protocol and repeated violations. According to sources, ICC Chief Executive Officer Sanjog Gupta has confirmed that Pakistan’s actions are violated by several rules made to protect the integrity of operations on the day of the match. The controversy is about the meeting between the match referee Andy Picroft, Pakistani captain Salman Ali Aga and head coach Mike Hessen before the toss.
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Despite the ICC’s clear sanctions, PCB allowed media manager Naeem Gilani to attend the meeting and make a video of it – which was considered a serious violation of the PMOA protocol. A source in the tournament confirmed that the CEO of the ICC wrote a letter to the PCB saying that the board is guilty of repeated violations of the PMOA on the match day. PCB has received this email. This latest violation of the PMOA stems from Pakistan’s complaints about the India-Pakistan match before the tournament, where the incident of “not handling hands” sparked a widespread debate. The PCB alleged that Pycroft had forbidden Salman to join hands with Indian batsman Suryakumar Yadav, although Yadav clarified that this was not done to show solidarity towards the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.