Eight teams expelled from the ACC under 15 elite cricket cup

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) took a very strict step in disqualifying as many as eight team on basis of age of the players. The championship was to be held in Nepal as they were the defending champions. There were total eleven participants in the championship and the ACC banned nine of them leaving only two teams- Singapore and Kuwait in the competition.

The first shock came when UAE was disqualified from the competition as no one in the entire 14 members squad had a UAE passport. Which means that none of the players were UAE citizens.

The second shock came when radiology examinations revealed that eight teams had more than one player each who exceeded the age limit of 15 years. The teams that were banned on basis of age were Nepal (defending champions and hosts of the tournament), Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Thailand.

The ACC took the decision and sunday's semi finals- Nepal v Singapore and Afghanistan v Hong Kong - were scrapped. That left two teams- Singapore and Kuwait (who were already eliminated in the course of the tournament). A final was played between the two teams in Bhaktapur, Nepal which Singapore won.

It is really sad that UAE does not have a single cricket player in their country. They are supposed to be one of the best among the associate nations. And its also sad that as many as eight teams sent in illegal players to participate. ACC claims that their protocol of age verification in fool proof and the results are reliable.

Source: Yahoo sports