PCB owes $30,000 to Sri Lanka Cricket

Board yet to pay SLC for hiring chartered plan after 2009 bus attack in Lahore.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is yet to pay a sum of $30,000 to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for hiring a chartered plane after an armed attack on their team back in 2009.

The Sri Lanka team bus was attacked while on their way to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, leaving six policemen and two civilians injured while a few Sri Lankan players also sustained injuries.

Instantly, the Lahore Test was called off and the tour was cancelled, while the travelling side was taken to a safe airbase.

Later on, the Sri Lankans hired the Airbus to take back a flight to Colombo and paid the expenses with the view that they will balance the books with the host board PCB.

However, five years have passed and The Express Tribune has learnt that the board is yet to pay the amount.

It has been mentioned several times in PCB’s board meetings that the SLC is repeatedly asking for the money but nothing had been done about it in all these years.

When the PCB officials were contacted about the issue, they confirmed that the case was true.

“It’s true,” said one of the board’s officials. “Sadly the likes of Ijaz Butt and Zaka Ashraf had been chairmen during that period but they did nothing about it. Now Najam Sethi is in charge and let’s see whether he’ll settle this issue or not.”

The incident dented Pakistan sports as a majority of the international sporting activities remained suspended for years. While some sports including squash, football and kabaddi among others have been restored to normality, cricket continues to suffer as a result of the scars left by the attack.

The PCB had tried to invite international teams to Pakistan by promising top-class security, but it came to no avail.

Pakistan have been playing their home series away from home in the UAE, which is costing the PCB a lot in terms of the revenues generated from the series. The players also prefer playing in Pakistan, as it gives them the home advantage.

Several youngsters, including Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali and others are yet to play in front of their home fans, which they feel will help them improve their performances.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th, 2013.

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