LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board Management Committee Chairman Najam Sethi Sunday contacted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a bid to break the impasse with the Punjab government over the security expenditures of the Pakistan Super League season-8 Rawalpindi and Lahore leg.
The fate of Pakistan Super League-8 fixtures in two Punjab cities of Lahore and Rawalpindi — including the final scheduled to be played in Lahore on 19 March — remains in limbo, as Punjab’s caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi insisted that his cabinet was not willing to back off from the security expenditures for holding the PSL.
Punjab spent Rs600m on PSL-2022
Naqvi told reporters in Lahore that the Punjab government had spent Rs600m on the Super League in 2022, adding “his cabinet was not ready to sanction the expenses” this time being an interim setup. Sethi contacted the prime minister and briefed him on the issue of security expenses, according to the sources, adding that premier Shehbaz has assured the Cricket Board chief of complete support.
The chairman of the Board said that the fixtures will have to be shifted to Karachi if the Punjab government didn’t stop demanding money for security, refusing to fulfil the demands. Sethi said that the Pakistan Super League is a national event and the national institutions are responsible for its arrangements.
On Saturday, the Pakistan Cricket Board Management Committee and the franchises discussed the matter. According to the sources, “it was agreed that the Rs450m in terms of security and other expenses would not be paid to the Punjab government.”
Cricket Board’s stance is if the Punjab government keeps asking the PCB for paying the said amount, then it will shift the Rawalpindi and Lahore matches to Karachi, the sources added. They further said that this will save money both for the Pakistan Cricket Board and the six franchises of the PSL-2023.
Karachi has so far hosted eight PSL-2023 matches out of its share of nine with the last game to be held on Sunday between Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans.
