PCB is answerable to us, says IPC official

IPC minister Riaz Pirzada has sought an explanation from PCB regarding their meeting with the BCCI

ISLAMABAD: The ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) on Wednesday said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is bound to answer them since a representative of the ministry sits on the PCB's governing board.

It is pertinent to mention that IPC minister Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada on Monday sought explanation from the PCB regarding their meeting with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that was cancelled due to the protest of Shiv Sena activists.



On the other hand, the PCB, in a statement on Tuesday, said the board is an autonomous organization, answerable only to its Patron, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, and its board of governors. Both the stakeholders have been kept apprised of the developments with regard to the PCB and BCCI matters.

The PCB said it has always conducted its negotiations with the BCCI and other national cricketing entities independently, with the government at no stage ever preventing it from so doing.

The ICC is sensitive to government's interference in affairs of its member boards.



Meanwhile, an official while talking to APP on Tuesday said the PCB is answerable to the IPC as a representative of the ministry is in the PCB's governing board.

"We have not given any time limit in the letter we wrote to the PCB on Monday but we will be waiting for their reply in this regard," he said.

He said the PCB-BCCI issue will also be discussed in the Assembly as it is a matter of the country's prestige.

"No matter what the PCB says but an answer regarding our letter to them is required," he said.



When asked that why did the IPC minister delay for more than two weeks in seeking explanation from the PCB regarding the matter, the official said the minister was on leave for 12 days and as soon as he returned he inquired about the issue.

Meanwhile, when contacted, a PCB official confirmed that a representative of the IPC ministry is in the PCB's governing board.