Bangalore, April 3: Shoaib Akhtar's woes continued as organisers of the Indian Premier League (IPL) decided not to allow the maverick pace bowler to participate in the forthcoming multi-million dollar Twenty20 league.

"The decision has been taken on the basis of the ban imposed on him by the PCB. If he is able to clear the ban, we will take him in the IPL," IPL chief executive Lalit Modi was quoted as saying by CNN-IBN.The organisers said that the IPL though not an official fixture but the event has evolved the guidelines in consonance with ICC's rules and procedures and hence players banned on disciplinary grounds by their national Boards were not allowed to take part in IPL.

"Shoaib has been banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board, and even though they have cleared him to play for IPL, we felt that international discipline needs to be respected," IPL governing council member IS Bindra was quoted as saying by Cricinfo.

"If he can't play for Pakistan, how can we play him? There will be no discipline left in the game, if we play him. It will set an unwanted precedent."

"We (the IPL) want to be part of the international system, not operate outside it. If somebody is banned on disciplinary grounds, that is a serious offense, and we felt it would be very odd if he was to play in IPL.", he added

PCB had banned Shoaib Akhtar for five years from all forms of the sport after the disciplinary Committee found the temperamental paceman guilty of violating PCB's coade of conduct.

The charges were laid after the controversial fast bowler criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for double standards in awarding the central contracts in January this year.

"The board has lost confidence in Shoaib Akhtar and therefore felt that his presence in the field was damaging to the Pakistan team, for Pakistan players and for the image of Pakistan cricket," PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf said while announcing the Board's decision.

OneIndia News