KARACHI, Dec 26: Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has been fined Rs 10,000 for refusing to wear a logo of a leading cellular service company in the on-going Twenty20 Cup competition.

The company has a contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board and it is mandatory for all the regional teams participating in the Twenty20 competition to wear the logo of the company on the front of their shirts.

Ironically, though, the logo of the cellular company is more prominent than that of the title sponsors of the tournament.

Sources in the board confirmed on Monday that match referee, Anwar Khan had fined Shoaib after he flatly refused to display the logo on his coloured kit and covered it with a sticker while playing for Islamabad Leopards against Multan Tigers on December 22 at the Asghar Ali Shah stadium.

“Shoaib argued that since he did not have a central contract with the board he was not bound to wear any clothing that had any other sponsor’s logo on it other than the tournament sponsor,” a source said.

“He said he had several individual endorsement contracts and he didn’t want to violate them.”

“Anwar tried to explain to him that he must wear the logo as part of the tournament regulations but he flatly refused after which he was fined,” the source added.

Shoaib went wicketless in the match, conceding 30 runs in four overs. His central contract was cancelled after he was banned in November for two years by a drugs inquiry tribunal of the board for testing positive for a banned steroid, nandrolone.

Since then, an appeals tribunal of the board has exonerated him of doping charges and set aside the ban after which Shoaib has resumed playing domestic cricket. But so far, he and Mohammad Asif - who was also banned and later exonerated- have not had their contracts reinstated by the board.

"Despite several warnings, Shoaib continued to argue that since he had not signed any contract with the PCB, he was not bound by any sponsorship agreements.”

Meanwhile, the selection of the controversial fast bowler for the forthcoming South African tour remains unclear after he failed to impress in one of the Patron’s Trophy for KRL and also in the two Twenty20 matches for Islamabad.

“The selectors are still not sure about his match fitness and form as he didn’t bowl many long spells in these games,” one source said.

To complicate matters, the World Anti-Doping Agency has also challenged the exoneration of the two fast bowlers in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland.

The communications manager of the board, Dr Ehsan Malik said here that the PCB was still waiting for an official notification from the CAS or WADA on the challenge filed. “But since they have Christmas and New Year holidays in Western countries, we might get something from them later. But we can only comment on it once we get something officially or in writing,” Malik said.