CAPE TOWN, March 2: The International Cricket Council on Friday decided to take away the right to terminate matches from umpires and handed it instead to match referees.

The recommendation, suggested by the ICC chief executives’ committee in January, was adopted at the two-day board meeting which ended here on Friday. It takes immediate effect.

The move follows last year's row at the Oval in England after Pakistan became the first-ever team to forfeit a Test.

“The Board's decision reflects the fact that the match referee is the chief executive of the match, the person who has overall responsibility for the way the game is played and officiated,” ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed said in a statement.

“This decision does not, however, detract from the on-field role of the umpires and they would, of course, still remain an integral part of the process of awarding a match in those circumstances.”

In one of cricket's biggest controversies, Pakistan blamed Australia's Darrell Hair after he and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove docked them five runs for alleged ball tampering during the fourth day of the Oval test against England in 2006.

The team refused to take the field after tea in protest and the umpires decided Pakistan had forfeited the game.

An ICC inquiry cleared skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq of ball tampering, although it banned him for four one-day games for bringing the game into disrepute.

Hair was embroiled in further controversy when the ICC revealed he had offered to retire in exchange for $500,000.

The ICC board sacked him from the elite panel of umpires in November and asked its chief executives to decide whether the power to terminate a match should be with the referee.—Reuters