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Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board has said that it will accept the decision of Justice (retired) Irfan Qadir, who will hear the appeals by six players against the bans and fines imposed on them by the PCB.
Justice Qadir will hold meetings with Younis Khan and the legal representatives of Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved on Friday to kick off the proceedings.
PCB's chief operating officer Wasim Bari said that the purpose of appointing an appeals judge was to give the players a fair chance to plead their case before an independent tribunal.
"It is not necessary that the honorable Judge will accept our recommendations of the bans and fines on the players and whatever decision he takes is acceptable to us," Bari said.
"If the appeals judge does not accept our recommendations for the bans and fines the players can comeback," he added.
Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal have also lodged appeals against their fines but they are presently in the West Indies for the Twenty20 World Cup.
Bari headed the inquiry committee formed by the Board to look into the causes of poor performance of the team during the recent Australia tour and also the reports of infighting among players.
The inquiry committee recommended bans on Younis, Muhammad Yousuf, Malik and Rana and fines on the other three players.
Bari said that the decision to penalise the players was a purely professional one and it has nothing to do with the personal relationship.
"Cricket is today a highly paid profession and business and a business must be conducted like a business, you should not bring personal matters into it," he said.
"Shoaib Malik invited me for his Walima (reception hosted by the groom's family) and I attended it. So we have nothing (personal) against the players," he said.
Bari also made it clear that the players should not feel disheartened and will get a fair hearing.
Meanwhile, Justice Qadir said that he would be basically hearing the viewpoint of the players and also their legal representatives.
"I want to hear what they have to say and then I will decide whether to hold collective hearings of all players or separately," he said.
Ahmed Qayyum, the legal advisor for Younis said, "We want to know on what basis has the Board imposed this ban on Younis. On what basis did they reach the conclusion that he didn't get along with Yousuf and they created problems in the team."
Qayyum said he would also request the appeals judge to hold on camera hearings and not behind closed doors so that the truth comes out.
