PCB wary of legal clutches for Amir, seeks advice

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) fears that Mohammad Amir might face legal difficulties while obtaining a visa to travel with the team to New Zealand, should he be selected, for the limited-overs series in January.

Amir has served a sentence of 3 months in jail for his involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal, wherein he was found guilty of a conspiracy to cheat at gambling, and to accept corrupt payments-in-lieu of underperforming.

New Zealand has strict regulations against granting visas to persons convicted of crimes. Its immigration authority website states, “People with criminal convictions or who have provided false or misleading information will not be granted a visa unless a character waiver is granted.”

It further states, “In the case of character waivers, each application is considered on its individual merits and taking into account, for example, the seriousness of an offence, number of offences and how long ago the event/s occurred."

Amir was earlier denied an English visa last year, and the PCB thinks that his chances of getting one for New Zealand are bleak. The board has already roped in Amir’s lawyer and is also in consultation with legal experts from England.

In a recent development, the 23-year-old pacer was named in the list of players called for the conditioning camp ahead of the NZ series and is well in line to make his Pakistan return during the upcoming tour. He has already completed his rehabilitation programme after serving a five-year ban following his involvement in the aforementioned case.

The ICC in January allowed him to return to competitive cricket ahead of his scheduled release from the ban – which formally ended on September 1.

Despite having PCB’s nod, Amir might face legal hurdles from the outside as well as opposition from the inside, as many of the present and former cricketers have voiced their opinions against Amir’s return to international cricket.

All is not lost, though, as the left-arm pacer has also found support from within the cricketing fraternity which remains divided in their opinions over the cricketer.

The youngster, nevertheless, has impressed one and all through his recent performances in the Bangladesh Premier League as well as the Pakistan domestic season thereby earning selectors’ attention.