Unfinished stand a safety concern at Gaddafi Stadium

Section of the stadium awaiting completion for almost three years

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to ‘shift’ the National Twenty20 Cup from Karachi to Lahore citing security situation in the southern city but safety concern for the fans who will be thronging Gaddafi Stadium have yet to be looked into.

The situation between the board and the Punjab government may have been patched up but one of the stands at the venue where both semi-finals and the final will be held is awaiting completion for almost three years. Capacity crowd – in similar numbers to what turned up at the last Twenty20 event in Lahore – is expected once again but wile the crowd lived, and enjoyed, dangerously then, much of the same is expected once again given PCB’s utter negligence to its safety and putting fans’ lives in danger.

When a board official was contacted with regards to the unfinished work, it was claimed that the structure was complete with just the paint and installation of fans left.  The official also added that spectators will not be allowed in that stand. A similar statement was handed out by PCB officials last time the Twenty20 event took place in Lahore. However, The Express Tribune photograph published with this article confirms how the board failed to live up to its word and prevent the spectators from entering the building.

"The structure has been completed after Zaka Ashraf ordered its resumption,” the PCB official told The Express Tribune. "We won't allow fans to step into the building this time even though it is safe. The work is currently at a standstill because it is yet to be decided whether to build conference rooms, meetings rooms or media boxes. However, things will be wrapped up soon.”

Crowd trouble not a concern

The official added that security officials tried to prevent spectators from entering the stand before as well but were outnumbered and it became difficult to cordon off the stand.

With the last match expected to finish by 7.30pm every day, the official also added that capacity crowd was only expected for the knockouts.

“We will easily tackle the situation. It’s just a case of three matches that we need to keep the crowd away from the stand.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2012.