PSL worryingly behind schedule

Franchise bidding yet to begin, while local broadcaster also not finalised

KARACHI: While all eyes are firmly on the Pakistan-India series saga, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has slipped under the radar for the past few days despite its franchise bid opening process being delayed by almost two weeks, while a local broadcaster is also yet to be finalised.

According to a tender issued by the PCB inviting bids for the five franchises of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad and Quetta, the interested parties were asked to collect bidding documents before the closing of office on November 13 upon a non-refundable payment of $1,000.

All the interested parties were instructed to submit their financial and technical bids before 11am on November 18 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

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The technical proposals of the hopefuls were to be opened and then assessed on the same day.

Only technically qualified bidders, after delivering presentations to the bid committee from November 18 to November 21 were to be allowed to take further part in the process.

The last bidding stage — reviewing the financial proposals — was scheduled for November 24 in Lahore but several days have passed since that deadline and the process is yet to start.

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PSL global broadcasting rights have been sold for a good price but a local broadcaster is yet to be finalised.

While a PSL official, who was contacted on the issue, accepted that the bidding process was behind schedule, he added that it will be completed soon.

“There has been a little delay but I can assure you that the franchise bid opening process will be completed in the first week of December,” a PSL official told The Express Tribune. “The whole process of finalising technically-sound bids and opening financial proposals of qualified parties would be completed within two days and we’ll have things ready by December 4 or 5. Meanwhile, the issue of local broadcaster will be finalised on Monday.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2015.

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