Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) executive committee Chairman Najam Sethi has revealed that Pakistan has demanded monetary compensation from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and International Cricket Council (ICC) for damages after India’s refusal to play the scheduled series. “We have mentioned it clearly to BCCI and ICC in recent meeting that either India should play cricket with Pakistan or compensate us for damages,” said Najam Sethi while talking to media after a meeting of the PCB Governing Council on Tuesday. “We have also demand compensation from ICC as PCB is suffering financially because of non-fulfilment of BCCI’s commitment to play cricket series with Pakistan” Sethi added. BCCI president Anurag Thakur had already requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to not place India and Pakistan in the same group during upcoming international events. “Keeping in mind that the Indian government has adopted a new strategy to isolate Pakistan and in view of the public sentiment in the country, we request the ICC not to put India and Pakistan in the same pool of the multi-nation tournaments,” the BCCI president had said. Cricketing ties between India and Pakistan are currently stalled, given the political tensions between the neighbours. The men’s teams have not played a bilateral series against each other since December-January 2012-13, when Pakistan visited India, but have met in various multi-team tournaments since then, including the World Cup, World T20, Champions Trophy and Asia Cup. India and Pakistan’s women’s teams are also scheduled to play the Asia Cup in Thailand between November 25 and December 5.

PSL set to become a separate entity: The PCB’s governing council has approved the overhaul of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), and its de-linking from the PCB. The PSL is set to become a separate entity run by its own governing board, which will be headed by a chairman and an executive officer, along with two independent directors. The league will be registered as a private limited company and will be run independently of the PCB. The idea was drafted and presented by PSL chairman Sethi. The structure of PSL’s governance, however, remained unclear as Sethi was reluctant to take questions on the league during the briefing at the PCB headquarters. He said that restructuring was underway and that the details would be shared with the media in due course. A few key areas were still under debate, namely the control the Pakistan board would have over the PSL and the revenue-sharing between the two. PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan had echoed concerns about the separation of the PSL from the PCB but was a part of the governing council that unanimously approved the proposal after a nine-hour meeting at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

The PSL will be a PCB-owned subsidiary, but the PCB will draw a minor share from the tournament’s revenue pool, with the a majority of the revenue being given to the franchises. Sethi said that one of the factors behind making PSL a separate entity was the need to counter political restrictions, with a change in government bringing an inevitable change in the PCB’s leadership too.

The immediate implication of the split is that all PSL contracts related to franchises, broadcasting, marketing and commercial matters will be rewritten and transferred from the PCB to the PSL. The league’s governing council consists of five members – Sethi, Mansoor Khan and Shakeel Sheikh from the PCB’s governing council; and two independent directors in Arif Habib, a renowned businessman, and Zia Rizvi, a corporate lawyer. The PCB’s chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed and chief financial officer Badar Khan will be a non-voting members ex officio. Both Sethi and Shaharyar are direct nominees of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who is chief patron of the PCB. Any changes in the federal government could thus result in an immediate change in the PCB. Following the appointment of Shaharyar as PCB chairman, the board has seen two power centres emerge, with Sethi, too, occupying key positions. The separation of the PSL could further exacerbate the issue with a key department working independently of the board.