PCB demands return of Rs10m ‘loan’

Former PCB chairman General Tauqir Zia has confirmed that the Rs10 million handed to the PHF was indeed a “loan”.

LAHORE: Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman General (R) Tauqir Zia has confirmed that the Rs10 million “grant” handed to the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) was indeed a “loan” and that it should be handed back to the cricket board.

“The money was given as a loan not a grant,” Zia told The Express Tribune. “The PHF badly needed funds as they had just 400,000 rupees in their account and had to finance their preparations and participation in the 2000 Olympics. While the loan was against the PCB’s constitution [suspended at that time], I got the permission from the PCB’s Chief Patron Muhammad Rafiq Tarar.”

Last year, a government-organised audit of the PCB unveiled severe financial mismanagement during the tenure of the last three chairmen. The matter of the “loan” was raised in the audit’s report and the PCB also confirmed that the amount was an approved one.

“On the advice of the Auditor General of Pakistan, we wrote to the PHF to refund the amount to the PCB,” said Nadeem Sarqar, PCB’s General Manger media. “As the matter has been raised in the audit’s report and we have to justify amount, the Public Accounts Committee directed us to clarify whether it was a loan or grant.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2010.