Afridi pulls court petition to play abroad

KARACHI: Pakistan's former captain Shahid Afridi on Wednesday ended a stand-off with cricket management by withdrawing a petition demanding the courts reinstate his permission to play abroad.

The move came one day after he met Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt when both sides reportedly agreed to settle the matter out of court.

"We have withdrawn the petition and after this Afridi will appear before the disciplinary committee likely on Thursday," Afridi's lawyer Mehmood Mandviwala told reporters outside the court in Karachi.

"We didn't want to go to court but were forced. Now I hope Afridi will get the NOC (no-objection certificate) and will be able to play in England and Sri Lanka," he added.

The PCB revoked Afridi's permission to play abroad, preventing him from appearing in the ongoing Twenty20 league in England and threatening his participation in next month's inaugural Sri Lankan Premier League.

The stand-off began last month after Afridi accused coach Waqar Younis of undue meddling in team selection during the one-day series against the West Indies, which Pakistan won by 3-2.

The PCB removed him as one-day captain and in protest, Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket and accused PCB officials, including Butt, of mishandling his case.

The PCB said Afridi had violated the players' code of conduct. It suspended his central contract and revoked his NOC. Afridi then went to court last week.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011