Tauqeer Zia calls for ad-hoc on PCB

Muhammad Asif Khan

LAHORE

Ad-hoc on PCB 'need of hour' - Zia

: At the time when the incumbent management of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is celebrating the democratic transition a few former and current players and administrators casting doubts on the mechanism adopted by the PCB. The latest to join the bandwagon is the former chairman of the PCB, Lieutenant General Tauqeer Zia (R), who demands the imposition of ad-hoc on PCB. “If the country is run under an interim setup then why can’t the PCB? Ad-hoc for at least three months is the need of the hour to fix issues”, said Tauqeer Zia while talking to this correspondent for News One TV.

“The recent election for the chairman [Zaka Ashraf] was also unconstitutional as major associations did not participate in the voting process”, added Tauqeer Zia, who headed the PCB in the early years of 2000.

Pakistan Cricket Board, earlier this month, held it’s first ever elections after which Zaka Ashraf took the reigns of the PCB as it’s first elected Chairman for the period of four years.

However, his [Zaka Ashraf] appointment was challenged by former captain Rashid Latif at the Sindh High Court and by the heads of the regional cricket associations of Faisalabad and Sialkot at the Lahore High Court.

Meanwhile, on Monday, The Lahore High Court allowed ad-hoc regional committees appointed by PCB to work till the election of regional cricket associations of Lahore, Sialkot and Faisalabad.

Legal adviser of the PCB, Tafazzul Rizvi said the PCB wanted to hold elections as per the constitution and it appointed ad-hoc committees for the purpose.

Tauqeer Zia also spoke about the recent spot-fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League (IPL), saying that the BCCI was striving to reach at the bottom of the event. He added, however, that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should play more active part in curbing the malpractice in Cricket.

On a question, the former chairman paid tribute to the incumbent PCB management for its efforts against corruption in the game. “PCB has put in place a mechanism, in an effort to tighten the screws on corrupt practices, which is appreciable. The policy of zero-tolerance will work well”, hopes Tauqeer Zia.

The writer is a Pakistani sports journalist, heads the sports department at News One TV & Tweets @mak_asif