British lawyer to hear Ganguly's appeal

ICC Code of Conduct Commission chairperson has been appointed to hear the appeal by Sourav Ganguly against his six-match ban.

International Cricket Council's (ICC) Code of Conduct Commission chairperson Michael Beloff has been appointed to hear the appeal by Sourav Ganguly against his six-match ban.

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ICC match referee Chris Broad has banned Ganguly for a breach of the ICC code of conduct pertaining to slow over rate during the fourth one-day international at Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The referee had warned Ganguly for slow over rate at the third one-day at Jamshedpur as well.

"Mr Beloff, a prominent British lawyer, will hear and determine the appeal within the next seven days unless the parties agree otherwise. The process for conducting the hearing is at the discretion of Mr Beloff," ICC said.

The rules permit the player to play until an appeals commissioner is appointed. The ICC had received Ganguly's appeal on Wednesday.

Under the rules, if a player appeals a ban the ICC will, within 48 hours, appoint a member of its Code of Conduct Commission as an appeals commissioner to hear his plea.

The commissioner, however, cannot be from the two countries involved in that particular match.

Once appointed, the commissioner will have seven days to hear and determine the appeal unless agreed otherwise, and he has the power to increase or decrease the penalty imposed or to overturn the decision of the match referee.

Ray had helped Ganguly when he was banned for two Tests by match referee Clive Lloyd after a similar offence during the day-night one-dayer against Pakistan at Kolkata. Then appeals commissioner had rescinded the ban after looking into the circumstances like the dew factor that led to the delay in completing the quota of overs.

Beloff has a wealth of experience in sports law having represented both athletes and governing bodies on complex legal cases relating to sporting issues.

"He has been a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) from 1996. He was on the CAS ad hoc panel for dispute resolution during the Olympic Games at Atlanta in 1996, at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1999 and at the Olympic Games at Sydney 2000, the Commonwealth Games in Manchester 2002 and at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004," said the ICC.