Virat Kohli found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct

June 23, 2019

India captain Virat Kohli has been fined 25 per cent of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the ICC Cricket World Cup match against Afghanistan at Southampton on Saturday.

Kohli was found to have breached Article 2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “Excessive appealing during an International Match”.

Saturday’s incident occurred in the 29th over of the Afghanistan innings, when Kohli advanced towards umpire Aleem Dar in an aggressive manner when appealing an lbw decision.

Kohli admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Chris Broad of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, and as such, there was no need for a formal hearing.

In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to the disciplinary record of Kohli, for whom it was the second offence since the introduction of the revised Code in September 2016.

Kohli now has two demerit points after having got one demerit point during the Pretoria Test against South Africa on 15 January 2018.

On-field umpires Aleem Dar and Richard Illingworth, third umpire Richard Kettleborough and fourth official Michael Gough levelled the charges.

Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.

*When a player reaches four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, they are converted into suspension points and a player is banned

**Two suspension points equate to a ban from one Test or two ODIs or two T20Is, whatever comes first for the player

***Demerit Points to remain on a Player or Player Support Personnel’s disciplinary record for a period of twenty-four (24) months from their imposition following which they will be expunged