The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) waived off Azam Azam Khan’s 50% match fee fine on for pasting the Palestine flag on his bat during the ongoing National T20 Championships.
Azam Khan, the son of former Pakistan captain Moin Khan, was fined 50% of his match fee by the PCB match referee two days ago after refusing to remove the Palestine flag sticker from his bat.
The wicketkeeper-batter was found to have repeatedly neglected an umpire’s instruction during the match, in violation of Article 2.4 of the PCB Code of Conduct for Players and Players Support Personnel.
The PCB did not provide any explanation for why the fine was entirely waived off, nor did it clarify if Azam had agreed to remove the sticker from his bat for the tournament’s remaining games.
“Azam Khan’s 50 per cent fine imposed by match officials has been reviewed and waived off by the Pakistan Cricket Board,” the PCB said in a brief release. “The Karachi Whites wicketkeeper-batter was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for being found guilty of committing a level-I offence during his side’s National T20 Cup 2023-24 match against Lahore Blues at National Bank Stadium, Karachi.”
As per ICC rules, players and team officials are not allowed to wear, display, or otherwise carry personal messages on their equipment without prior approval from the PCB Cricket Operations Department and the player or team official’s cricket association.
Cricket enthusiasts and other people took to social media to express their outrage after relaxation to Azam.