LAHORE, May 23: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday said it had no role in appointing umpire Asad Rauf for IPL matches but admitted that the ICC has informed the Board about his withdrawal from next month’s Champions Trophy in the wake of the investigations being carried out in the IPL spot-fixing saga.

PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, speaking to media in a hurriedly called press conference here on Thursday evening, said: “The PCB has no link with Asad Rauf since he was doing the IPL duty on the instructions of the ICC and BCCI. We don’t know what his crime is but we did receive an e-mail from the ICC informing us about Asad’s withdrawal from the Champions Trophy. However, no reason for this action was mentioned by the ICC.”

Zaka categorically said that PCB had not made any recommendation for Asad Rauf to appoint him as umpire in the IPL and, therefore, the ICC and the BCCI would deal with the case. “However, if the ICC asks the PCB to take any action against Asad, we will follow their instructions,” he clarified.

To another question, Zaka admitted that the reports about the IPL and the Bangladesh League were not good for the future of world of cricket.

“Yes, this is not good for world of cricket and it is also alarming for everyone of us. But to cope with it, it is the responsibility of all the stakeholders to fight against the dirty practices with great unity because no single cricket board can rid the game of this menace.”

Dismissing the impression that the ICC has a biased attitude against Pakistani players and officials, Zaka said: “We should not take things in this manner, the fixing menace urges all the cricketing nations to join hands and crush it.”

He claimed the PCB had tightened the monitoring procedures by setting up an efficient vigilance department and was in a better position to pr-empt or check such incidents in the future.

“No player is allowed to meet anyone outside without the permission and satisfaction of the manager of the team,” he said.

He vowed that the PCB would not conceal any facts on wrongdoing of any Pakistani players or officials in the future as the PCB had zero tolerance policy against such dirty practices.

He said the IPL incident was quite shocking for Pakistani fans as well because the game of cricket had been damaged.

“Fans want to see good, competitive cricket matches all over the world and not fixed ones. We are all striving hard to see the spirit and the values of this gentleman’s game fully restored,” he concluded.