The scenario is all too familiar to club cricketers. A gentle Saturday afternoon jaunt at the local cricket ground quickly becomes heated. The problem? A lack of official umpires. Members of the batting side, when not padded up, instead take up officiating duties. Cue an almighty row, featuring unsubtle accusations of bias, when the finger fails to go up in a close call.
AMERICAN PREMIER LEAGUE
Serious integrity questions arise from APL chaos
On the APL's social media channels, an image was published where an umpire not wearing official clothing could be seen © Agencies
Last Saturday, the trials of amateur cricket made their way into the pro game, only the potential implications are far more sinister. When elite sport loses its neutrality, next to fall is its credibility. Uncomfortable questions on sporting integrity and even corruption then rear their ugly head.
Ahead of the semi-final of the American Premier League, a relatively new franchise competition taking place in Houston, Texas, the official umpires executed a work stoppage. They claimed they had not been sufficiently paid for their services over the first 11 days of the tournament.
The league claimed otherwise. Reports indicated that local police were called to remove the umpires from the stadium. Since they refused to take to the field, they were accused of trespassing. Footage on social media shows police telling the officials that they had to leave Moosa Stadium and that their pay dispute was a civil matter.
In posts on X (formerly Twitter), the APL confirmed that the police were called and the umpires asked to leave the stadium. The league accused the officials of holding the match "hostage."