Pakistan PM Under Pressure Over Champions Trophy Humiliation, Asked To Take Up Matter In Parliament

A senior Pakistan government official has said that he will request Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take up the matter of the country’s cricket team’s disappointing performance in the Champions Trophy in Parliament and the Federal Cabinet. “The (Pakistan) Cricket Board is an independent institution. They can do as they please, which they have. And what they’ve done, I will request the Prime Minister to discuss the matter in the Cabinet and Parliament,” Rana Sanaullah, the advisor to the PM on Political and Public Affairs, told Geo TV channel.

Hosts Pakistan’s campaign in the marquee tournament ended prematurely with big defeats to New Zealand (by 60 runs) and India (by six wickets). Their inconsequential last group match against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi was called off without a ball being bowled due to incessant rain.

Sanaullah, a former federal and provincial minister, and a senior member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) party, made it clear that the caretaker government before the general elections last year had completely detached the PCB from the Federal Government’s control.

“The problem is we have been facing ups and downs in cricket and changes in the Board for the past decade now,” said Sanaullah, while also highlighting the dismal condition of the sport at the club, university and district level.

He said there was a need to make PCB accountable for the money spent at a time when conditions at the grassroots and club level remained dismal.

“The expenditure happening at a higher level (PCB) should be brought in front of the country and Parliament. Mentors are being paid five million rupees and they have been heard admitting in the media that they are unaware of their responsibilities… so they’ve been taking money for not working,” he claimed.

“If you see the perks and privileges of the PCB to players and officials, you’ll wonder if this is Pakistan or some progressive European nation. These are things that the Prime Minister himself will take notice of.

“This is a process that has been ongoing for a while where people of their own wish take up positions (in the PCB) and do as they please, which then leads to the current conditions of cricket and the board.

“There needs to be improvement, and there needs to be a system in the form of a stable board like there is in the rest of the world,” he added.

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