Najam Sethi-led PCB management committee dissolved

LAHORE: The federal government on Tuesday de-notified the management committee of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headed by Najam Sethi, confirmed Federal Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) Ehsan Ur Rehman Mazari.

According to a notification issued by Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC), the PCB management committee of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) led by Najam Sethi stood dissolve following the ‘completion of tenure’.

The ministry also said that all the affairs of the PCB have been handed over to the Election Commissioner Ahmed Shehzad Farooq Rana, barring Najam Sethi from making any decisions.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has nominated that former chairman Muhammad Zaka Ashraf and Advocate Supreme Court Mustafa Ramday as members of the Board of Governors of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The notification, issued on Tuesday, stated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in the capacity of PCB patron-in-chief, has nominated Ashraf and Ramday as members of the PCB’s Board of Governors.

With the nomination of Ashraf and Ramday, the BoG’s 10 members have been completed. Apart from Ashraf and Ramday, four representatives each from cricket associations and departments will sit in the BoG.

The chief election commissioner will now call for the election which is likely to take place later this week.

Earlier in the day, Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Management Committee, Najam Sethi, withdrew his candidacy for PCB Chairman.

Najam Sethi announced to withdraw his nomination for the position of PCB Chairman through a tweet, stating that he did not want to become a cause of conflict between Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Mian Shahbaz Sharif.

“Such instability and uncertainty is not good for PCB. Under the circumstances I am not a candidate for Chairmanship of PCB,” Sethi tweeted.

A day earlier, it was reported that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was likely to retreat on the issue of the appointment of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman following a ‘disagreement’ with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Sources told ARY News that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came face-to-face on the issue of appointment of PCB chairman.

PPP’s stance on the matter is that since its minister heads the Inter-Provincial Coordination Division and PCB is related to the ministry, its chairman should be appointed by the party.

The PPP has nominated Zaka Ashraf for the PCB chief slot, while the PML-N wants to appoint Najam Sethi, the PCB’s management committee chairman, to the post.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PCB management committee’s extension expires on June 21 and before that efforts are being made to conduct the chairman elections.