Karachi: Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on Friday filed an appeal against the five-year ban slapped on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Shoaib’s lawyers Mohammad Ali Lashari and Mohammad Azim Danyal met PCB’s chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi and submitted the appeal to him.

A large media contingent had gathered at the stadium and there was a small protest against the ban outside the main gate.

“The ban is illegal and unconstitutional and we intend to have it reviewed and removed,” Danyal said at the Gaddafi.

Shoaib himself showed up at the end of the meeting and said he had appealed as per the procedures of the PCB.

“I came to submit the appeal according to the procedures of the PCB and I have done that. I respect the law, the PCB and its chairman,” he told reporters. He also asked his fans to “be patient till the PCB decides on the appeal.”

He also thanked all those — including former captain Imran Khan, Tauqir Zia and Haneef Abbasi — who have backed him.

Naghmi said that as per the procedures of the board, PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf will head the appellate committee. “It is Shoaib’s right to appeal against the ban. And we are now bound to give him another fair hearing,” Naghmi said.

Asked if it was fair for Ashraf to head the committee since the PCB chief had filed a defamation suit, Naghmi said the appellate tribunal would take a decision on the basis of facts and not any political pressure. “The appellate tribunal’s job is to dispense justice. A decision will be made on the basis of facts,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shabbir Anwar, a spokesman for Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, has denied reports that the PCB had been asked to review the ban. (PTI)