Political instability likely to jolt PCB hierarchy
The current situation may create hurdles in Najam Sethi's appointment as PCB chief.
LAHORE (Dunya News) – The political instability in the country is likely to jolt the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hierarchy that is scheduled to assume charge in August due to the report of the Panama Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that is clearly against the incumbent government.
The JIT report is the topic of discussion among PCB officials these days, and the appointments made by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif may get challenged in the courts if he steps down, or is declared ineligible by the Supreme Court (SC).
Such a situation is expected to create difficulties for Najam Sethi who is the strongest candidate for the post of PCB chairman as the tenure of 83-year-old Shahryar Khan nears end.
PM Nawaz had earlier nominated Najam Sethi and Arif Ejaz for the chairmanship of PCB. Arif Ejaz is the right hand of Sethi, and is considered no threat to him for the aforementioned designation. The new chief will be selected by governing board through voting, and Najam Sethi is all set to be elected unopposed.
It is feared that the cricket board will go back to the situation that it faced three years back when the chairmanship of PCB changed like a game of musical chair between Najam Sethi and Zaka Ashraf.
Furthermore, the new criteria to select governing board members can also be challenged, and the proceedings to hand over the charge to new chairman in first week of August may also face a delay if objections are raised by top regions as the board has decided to only include representatives of four top departments and four lower regions in the board of governors.
The former regional head of Sialkot Cricket Association Zulfiqar Malik has already announced that he will challenge these nominations in the court if PM leaves his office.
Furthermore, only two members, Najam Sethi and Mansoor Khan, of the current governing board will be included in the new one out of ten. The representative of Lahore, Sialkot, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Quetta region will be added in the new board of governors, and its formal approval will be taken in the last session on July 31.
The new governing board will remain in charge till August 2020 according to the constitution of PCB.
