Shireen Mazari questions: Why PCB did not blacklist Geo over payment default?

Expresses surprise at how the media group has distorted Mani’s statement .

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) on Wednesday expressed surprise over the deliberate distortion in the statements attributed to former International Cricket Council (ICC) president Ehsan Mani by Geo/Jang group.

A statement issued by PTI Central Information Secretary, Shireen Mazari said that Mani has emailed PTI chief Imran Khan saying that Geo/Jang group had distorted his statement on cricketing rights to the channel.

Mazari explained that her party questioned the rights of the Sri Lankan cricket series being awarded to Geo, which was based on a series of unlawful steps that were taken during the process.

She said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Operating Officer, Subhan Ahmad, was a member of the Committee that was tasked to decide on who should be given the series’ rights.

According to the statement, Ahmad was reporting directly to the chairman, who at the time was also an employee of Geo/Jang group and had provided confidential information to assist Geo in securing the broadcasting bid.

His presence on the panel was itself a conflict of interest and unethical, the statement added. Geo never paid PCB in advance for these rights as per the agreement and yet they were allowed to air the Sri Lanka-Pakistan matches, Mazari said. The channel defaulted on its payments after the series and their bank guarantee had to be encashed to recover the dues, she revealed.

Mazari said that her party had sought an inquiry into the dubious role of the PCB chief operating officer.

Raising questions over the broadcasting rights, Mazari said, “Why was Geo not banned by PCB after it defaulted on its payments?”

The PTI leader also said that PTV was forbidden from bidding by the Ministry of Information and then managing director of PTV.

The PTI also demands that an inquiry into why PTV was prevented from bidding and who was responsible for this decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2014.