Shoaib ban upheld

Shoaib Akhtar's appeal against a five-year ban imposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board has been rejected by a three-man tribunal in Lahore.

The 32-year-old was handed the suspension from all cricket for or in Pakistan after the board claimed he had repeatedly breached their code of conduct and the PCB was finally forced to act after Shoaib hit out at the board for not being given a central contract earlier this year.

The appeal panel, appointed by the PCB and consisting of retired judge Aftab Furrukh, Salman Taseer and Haseeb Ahsan, upheld the initial decision on Wednesday.

The ruling comes just a day after Shoaib apologised to PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf, who had threatened the paceman with legal action for claiming in an interview that the ban was punishment for not sharing projected Indian Premier League earnings with Ashraf.

In a statement, the PCB made it clear the ban did not apply to cricket played overseas - in theory freeing up Shoaib to play in the Indian Premier League.

"We for the time being are of the view that Shoaib can play anywhere outside Pakistan," said the statement.

"It was not our intention to him restrain him on that level. Shoaib can also play in the IPL. He however cannot play for Pakistan internationally or nationally."

IPL sources later ruled out any possibility of Shoaib appearing in the fledgling series, stating a player must be eligible to represent his country to take part in the league.

Shoaib was signed by the Kolkata Knight Riders in February's auction for 425,000 US Dollars (£215,000).