LAHORE - Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt on Monday announced the decision to sack PCB chief operating officer Salim Altaf. Wasim Bari has been asked to take over the charge until the board appoints a new COO. The PCB says it will finalise the name of new appointee in due course. It was learnt that the PCB chairman, after seeking full approval from the governing board members, issued the notification order which was handed over to Altaf via the HR department of the PCB. However, a satellite channel quoted Altaf as saying he did not receive any letter. Altaf has been part of the last three PCB set ups. And amazingly, he has been fired twice, and by those chairmen who had rehabilitated Altaf. And the one who brought him in, Shaharyar M Khan, was so open with his annoyance with regards to Altaf that he would have sacked him had he not been made to go abruptly. Since February last, he had been sidelined to the extent that the chairman had instructed all the directors and senior general managers to only take assignments from him (the chairman) and also report him back - cutting Altaf out of the loop totally. So for nearly the last six months, the informed speculation in the PCB corridors and those in the know amongst the media was that Altaf's days were numbered. But perhaps, wisened from Altaf's previous reinstatement through a court order, this time round Ijaz Butt wanted to have the weight of the governing board behind this decision. Altaf, a controversial figure, has always ran into trouble with whosoever he has worked with. Former PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf had sacked Altaf on the allegations of leaking confidential information to the media. And prior to that, Shaharyar Khan was on the verge of making the announcement of his sacking him before a sudden turn of events surprised everyone in the PCB. Altaf had been re-instated on court orders before Dr Nasim Ashraf left the PCB. Current chairman Ijaz Butt promoted Altaf to the position of chief operating officer, but due to his reputation and history, the sacking, after Altaf outlived his shelf life, was almost scripted. Butt taken a similar course of action for the removal of former COO Shafqat Naghmi. Earlier, it was learnt that Altaf used his all political connections in the government to force a change. But such has been Altaf's attitude that everyone in the cricket fraternity had his own story of grievances against him which had weakened his case beyond repair.