Sports ministry officials to visit PCB today

ISLAMABAD - The top officials of Federal Ministry of Sports including Secretary Muhammad Ashraf Khan and Joint Secretary Muhammad Anwar Khan will visit Pakistan Cricket Board today (Wednesday) to look into the affairs of the top most sports organisation of the country. The Chief Operating Officer (COO) PCB Shafqat Naghmi will give a detailed briefing to the top officials of the Ministry of Sports at the head office of the board at Lahore. Officials will also see different departments during their visit of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Secretary Ministry of Sports Muhammad Ashraf Khan told The Nation on Tuesday it would be a formal visit. "Our aim is not to occupy the PCB but we want to look into the affairs of the board according to the constitution. We will finalise the modalities and role of PCB and ministry secretariat for the mutual working relationship," he added. Responding to a question, he said that the federal ministry was basically interested in the administrative and financial issues. "The Ministry is not going to intervene in the operational affairs of the board because it would be harmful for national cricket, our aim is to have an eye over financial and administrative issues of the PCB," he viewed.    While refuting the view that the PCB should work under the umbrella of ministry, Muhammad Ashraf Khan said that it would damage the sport but the PCB must have some authorities to decide day-to-day issues like teams' tours and other cricketing tasks with the consultation of ministry. He said that they had got the copies of the constitutions of the top cricket boards of the world including Australia, South Africa and India. "We are also contacting the other boards as well and would get guidance from the cricket board constitutions of all other countries to make our own document more democratic," he said. He said that the PCB's constitution was full of flaws and needed amendments in order to create balance in the powers. "At the moment the PCB constitution and all powers conferred through it are attached to its chairman and in the absence of the chairman no one can do anything," he replied a question. Khan said, "This is why we amended the constitution and bridge the legal gap to avoid any further hitch in the PCB working. The ministry is supervising the affairs of the PCB after the addition of a clause in its constitution that federal ministry can look after the affairs of the PCB in case of the resignation or removal of its chairman till the appointment of the new one, "he observed. He said that Ministry intended to correct the whole system of the board and would provide a better role to district and regional associations, which are the actual base of cricket. "I am surprised how is the dictatorial PCB constitution, its board has 10 nominated out of total 15 members of the board," he viewed.

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