Pakistan Super League: ‘International security agencies an option’

Managing director Butt affirms stance on prioritising safety of players.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) managing director Salman Sarwar Butt has said that they are ready to engage top international security agencies in conjunction with the government’s forces to quash safety concerns among some cricket boards to allow their players to play the Twenty20 league in Pakistan.

In a statement released by the Pakistan Cricket Board, Butt acknowledged that security is a concern for some of the boards.

“Let me reassure all concerned on behalf of the PSL that a very high level security shall be provided throughout,” the statement read. “Besides the state apparatus, the most competitive international outfits with proven credentials of overseeing safety in international events of stature are being assessed for engagement. The safety of each and every participant including the audiences is a responsibility that the PSL is not taking lightly.”

Responding to the advice of various boards to their contracted players to refrain from the PSL, he said he was aware that perceptions could not be changed easily.

“Nevertheless, the PSL shall continue with its efforts to put together a spectacle that would endeavour to dispel such perceptions once it starts unfolding on the ground.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2013.