Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar lambasted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia (CA) while speaking on the economic inequality in cricket, NDTV Sports reported.

Akhtar spoke on his YouTube chat show with Geo Cricket where he alleged that CA overlooked the infamous Monkeygate controversy because the BCCI is the financial powerhouse.

The Monkeygate scandal unravelled in 2008 when Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was charged with directing racial and abusive slur towards Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds.

Akhtar said: “Sometimes they get easy wickets in Melbourne, someone calls another person a monkey but gets away with it, there are threats to boycotting the series. I am asking the Australians, where are their ethics?”

“You made kids cry for scratching a cricket ball and they got away by calling someone a monkey. When they (BCCI) threatened to end the series, they (Cricket Australia) said no such incident happened. Are these your moral grounds?” Akhtar asked.

“Forget all this drama, just say that we need money. The money comes from the BCCI, you quietly keep taking it,” he said.

Akhtar took a dig at the speculation on the IPL event in September-November and said: “T20 World Cup could have also happened, but I had already said this earlier that they won’t let it happen. IPL should not be damaged, let the World Cup go to hell.”