Bangladesh on Monday lifted the 10-year ban on former international cricket umpire Nadir Shah, allowing him to officiate domestic matches. Shah was banned in March 2013 by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) after a sting operation by an Indian TV channel found him apparently willing to fix matches for cash.
The private India TV channel aired footage in October 2015, showing that the 52-year-old Shah was willing to give LBW (leg before wicket) decisions on demand. Shah, who has stood in 40 one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals, was one of six umpires caught in the undercover investigation, including three from Sri Lanka and two from Pakistan.
'Over the moon'
All six were subsequently suspended by their own cricket authorities but they have consistently refuted the allegations. "We have found that the others umpires found guilty for the same offence had not been punished for more than three years," BCB president Nazmul Hassan told reporters. "So we've decided to lift Nadir Shah's ban. There will be no bar on him to conduct domestic matches."
Shah welcomed the BCB decision. "I am over the moon now," he told AFP. "Also I am grateful to all who helped me getting the ban removed."
Shah was among the umpires who conducted the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League last year, a copy-cat of India's high-octane IPL Twenty20 tournament. The competition was marred by corruption allegations and ended up with former Bangladeshi captain Mohammad Ashraful and two other officials banned for different period.
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