PCB management escapes the axe

President reverses decision to remove management of PCB after developments suggest sting operation allegedly staged.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari had made his decision last week to remove the top management of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over a spot-fixing scam but it was put off at the last moment after fresh developments suggested the sting operation was allegedly staged.

The Express Tribune has learnt from top government officials that following the alleged involvement of Pakistani  cricketers in the spot-fixing scandal President Zardari consulted his close aides and decided to replace the cricket setup, including PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt.

However, the decision was put off at the eleventh hour after Pakistan’s High Commission in London and other concerned authorities reported to the president that the scam could turn out to be engineered to trap the country’s cricketing stars, a close presidential aide disclosed on Saturday.

“Yes, the decision had been taken to remove the top cricket management, but the president changed his mind after new developments relating to the spot-fixing scandal,” he added.“The next three days are very crucial. Our focus is now on defending the cricketers, both on the diplomatic and legal fronts,” he said.

Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were accused of spot-fixing in the fourth Test at Lord’s against England. The International Cricket Council (ICC) provisionally suspended the cricketers for alleged violation of code of conduct.

The controversy rocked the cricking world as former Pakistan Test players and fans called for the removal of the PCB management.

The National Assembly standing committee on sports threatened that its members would resign en bloc if the PCB management, including its chief Ijaz Butt, were not removed.

However, officials insist that changing the cricket management at this stage was not advisable.

“The menace of match-fixing has been there for the last 10 years, so you cannot blame the current cricket management,” another presidential aide said.

But others believe that the PCB chief and other top officials of the Board are to be blamed for the fiasco “There can be only two reasons why the government is not replacing the cricket management: either the government is part of all the mess or it is incompetent,” Amir Bilal, former PCB media adviser, told The Express Tribune.

Bilal said he had warned the PCB officials in 2009 that some of the cricketers had connections with bookies but his advice was ignored.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2010.