PCB yet to pay PSL fee to Lorgat

Former chairman Zaka Ashraf did not clear dues of former ICC chief.

KARACHI:

Curtains were drawn on the Pakistan Super League (PSL) without a ball being bowled but the lucrative Twenty20 event left its mark for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the form of unpaid financial dues.

Former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf was keen to start the league after continuous failure in his pursuit to bring back international cricket to Pakistan. He wanted international players to feature in the event and had already started planning acquisitions. To do this, the PCB had hired Haroon Lorgat, former CEO of the International Cricket Council, as a consultant for the league.



However, despite Ashraf’s efforts, the PSL was called off even before it began.

According to reports received by The Express Tribune, the PCB is yet to pay $25,000 in consultation fees to Lorgat, whose appointment did not come to fruition as the mega event failed to take place.

The PCB will now try to settle this amount with Lorgat after the governing board authorised the caretaker chairman Najam Sethi to look after this issue.

“There is a pending payment of $25,000 to be paid to Lorgat for his consultancy services with regard to the PSL,” a governing board member told The Express Tribune.

“As the caretaker chairman’s power has been curtailed due to orders of the court, the governing board has authorised him to settle the matter with Lorgat either on a negotiated amount or in case of disagreement, a payment of the full amount of $25,000.”

Several former cricketers had questioned the board’s move at that time as they felt it was not realistic and would only end up being a waste of financial resources. Some cricket boards and players’ associations were also against the project.

“It is true that the PSL went on to cost the PCB a lot instead of generating healthy finances,” said a PCB official. “It was an ill-timed and poorly planned project from Ashraf done just in order to end his frustration for not being able to revive international cricket in Pakistan. It is still denting us.”

“It wasn’t the right move keeping in mind the security concerns.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2013.

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