Cricket:The International Cricket Council have confirmed Australian Darrell Hair will not be engaged for any further international matches for the remainder of his Elite Umpires contract, which runs until March 2008.
Hair's position had been the subject of debate since he called Pakistan for ball tampering in the fourth Test against England at the Oval in September, which resulted in the match being forfeited by the tourists.
The decision comes after the incident was discussed at the ICC's two-day board meeting in Mumbai, India, which concluded today.
Earlier this week, the world game's governing body confirmed they had received a letter from the Pakistan Cricket Board urging them to hold an inquiry into Hair's conduct during the Oval Test.
Pakistan were deemed by Hair and colleague Billy Doctrove to have forfeited the match when they refused to return to the field after being penalised five runs for ball-tampering.
A subsequent ICC hearing into charges of ball-tampering and bringing cricket into disrepute against Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq ruled he was guilty of the latter but not the former.
Pakistan have since refused to play any matches officiated by Hair, who controversially offered his resignation to the ICC in exchange for US$500,000 in the wake of the match.