NEW DELHI: The ICC is considering disciplinary action against Pakistan for "violating multiple tournament regulations" ahead of their Asia Cup clash against the UAE, which was delayed after the team protested the governing body's refusal to replace match referee Andy Pycroft.

In an e-mail to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the ICC cited "misconduct" and "several breaches" of the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA) protocol prior to Wednesday's match.

"The ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta has written to the PCB stating that the board has been guilty of repeated PMOA violations on match day. PCB is in receipt of the e-mail," a tournament source told PTI.

It has emerged that, despite repeated warnings, Pakistan violated regulations by permitting media manager Naeem Gillani to record a pre-toss meeting between referee Andy Pycroft, head coach Mike Hesson, and captain Salman Ali Agha.

The ICC had explicitly prohibited media managers from attending or filming such discussions.

Earlier, the team had delayed its departure from the hotel, holding Pycroft accountable for the ‘no-handshake’ controversy in the India match, which ultimately pushed Wednesday’s game back by an hour.

The PCB claimed that during Sunday's toss, Pycroft stopped captain Salman Ali Agha from shaking hands with his Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav, who had clarified that the gesture was skipped as a mark of solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.

To address the fallout from the India match, the ICC agreed with the PCB’s request that Pycroft meet with Pakistan’s captain and team manager ahead of Wednesday's toss.

"The purpose was to eradicate any regrettable misunderstanding or miscommunication which may have arisen at the time of the toss (of the India match)," the tournament source said.

"PCB brought to the meeting their media manager and insisted that he be present during the conversation," he added.

Naeem was refused entry by the ICC Anti-Corruption Manager because "he wanted to take his mobile phone into the PMOA".

The source that at that point, the PCB threatened to "withdraw" from the match if the media manager was not allowed to attend and then insisted on filming (without audio) the conversation, which was a "further violation of the PMOA regulations."

"The ICC, in order to preserve the interest of the sport, the tournament and the stakeholders involved accepted PCB's asks although this demonstrated a complete disregard for the sanctity of the PMOA, where the meeting took place," the source said.

The ICC was also not made aware of how PCB planned to use the filmed footage. The short clip has been circulating on social media with various speculations on what might have been discussed during the meet.

The world body has also taken exception to a PCB media release that claimed Pycroft had "apologised", when in fact he had merely expressed regret over a miscommunication.

PCB media manager Naeem was denied entry into a subsequent meeting inside the PMOA, where filming is strictly prohibited.