Bangladesh bans top umpire for 10 years

DHAKA (AFP) –

Umpire Nadir Shah gives a dismissal during a one-day match between Bangladesh and New Zealand at The Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, on October 9, 2008. The Bangladesh Cricket Board has banned Shah for 10 years after a sting operation by an Indian television channel found him willing to fix matches for cash.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Monday banned international umpire Nadir Shah for 10 years after a sting operation by an Indian television channel found him apparently willing to fix matches for cash.

“Umpire Nadir Shah will not be considered for BCB retainership for 10 years,” the board said in a statement.

“During this period he will not be eligible for any assignment under the jurisdiction of the BCB.”

The announcement comes after the private India TV channel aired footage last October which appeared to show that the 49-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.

The allegations were broadcast only days after the final of the World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka.

Shah could not be contacted for comment after the BCB’s announcement. He has previously branded the suggestion that he was open to bribery as “absolutely rubbish”.