Claim : The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for one year.
Conclusion : The claim is totally false. No such ban exists, no board vote on a ban occurred and the attached image is a digitally altered fake image. The ICC did release a statement on February 1, 2026 regarding Pakistan’s boycott against India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. ICC awaits official communication from PCB and expects PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution.
Rating : Totally False 
Several social media users have shared a circular that allegedly claims to show ICC banning Pakistan for one year. X user ‘MrSinha_INFO’ shared such a post, with a notice claiming that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had banned the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for one year. It cited a supposed ICC board meeting vote (14–2 margin) over Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2026 participation, accompanied by an image of a fabricated “media release” listing additional penalties: suspension of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), reduction of Pakistan’s annual revenue share from 5.75% to 2.25% and a ban on hosting ICC events until 2040. The post can be seen below –
ICC HAS BANNED PAKISTAN CRICKET BOARD FOR ONE YEAR
In a meeting of ICC board members regarding Pakistan’s World Cup participation, a voting was held, and the proposal to ban Pakistan for one year was passed by a 14–2 MARGIN.#U19WorldCup2026 #T20WC2026 #DhurandharTheRevenge pic.twitter.com/5rMyP2zLDe— 𝖬𝗋 𝖲𝗂𝗇𝗁𝖺 𝖨𝖭𝖳𝖤𝖫 (@MrSinha_INFO) February 3, 2026
Other users have shared similar claims which can be seen here and here
🚨 BREAKING: ICC reportedly bans Pakistan Cricket Board for 1 year! 🚫🏏
• PSL suspended for 1 year
• Pakistan’s ICC revenue cut from 5.75% → 2.25%
• No ICC hosting rights until 2040
• ICC stresses integrity & spirit of the game 💥#Cricket #ICC #Pakistan 🔥 pic.twitter.com/7ZkcYLe1Zg— The Truth Signal (@The_TruthSignal) February 3, 2026
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found that it is totally false. There is no ban in place, no board vote was held to impose one, and the attached image is digitally manipulated. While the ICC issued a statement on February 1, 2026 addressing Pakistan’s boycott of India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup , it did not announce or enforce any ban.
Details:
We first conducted a web search with the phrase “ICC bans Pakistan for one year” to learn more about the claim. According to a report by Al Jazeera published on February 5, 2026, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif confirmed the boycott of Pakistan and said ““We have taken a very clear stand that we will not play the match against India,”The report notes how he reasoned that “We have taken this stand after careful deliberation [decided that] on this matter, we must stand with Bangladesh and support them,” as a mark of protest. View a section from the report below –
Following this, we came across the official ICC statement that was posted on February 1, 2026. The statement calls selective participation “difficult to reconcile” with tournament principles, notes that “this decision is not in the interest of the global game or the welfare of fans worldwide” and urges the PCB to seek a resolution. It contains zero mention of any ban, vote, sanctions or penalties. View the statement below –
Next, we searched more about the 14-2 vote on penalties. A Live Mint report mentions that the 14–2 vote reference was in context of ICC board’s decision of rejecting a venue-change request from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Cricket Board formally requested the ICC to shift its World Cup matches to Sri Lanka under a hybrid model, but, the ICC rejected this plan on 21 January by a 14–2 vote.
Lastly, we conducted a reverse image search to find the original post. From the logo on the top right, we got a clue that it belonged to DD sports group and conducted a web search. This took us to the original Facebook post made by DD sports on February 2, 2026, which can be seen below.
The above original post was altered, added Jay Shah’s fake signature and made a claim.
Thus, the claim is totally false.
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