ISLAMABAD: In a startling revelation, it has emerged that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) benefited from the nationals by receiving funds from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).
As reported by The News, PSB donated a whopping Rs 205 crore to PCB who then distributed the money among the Champions Trophy 2017 winning team.
Shockingly, the funds raised by the cricket body were earmarked for the development of Olympic sports in the country.
The cash-rich PCB has always maintained that it has never taken a single cent from the exchequer and is therefore not answerable to the government – an excuse that PCB officials have repeatedly made in Senate and committee meetings of the National Assembly.
However, reports found that Rs 205 crore was allocated to the Champions Trophy winning team from the PSB treasury instead of taking the money from the PCB’s kitty. As this amount was meant for the cricketers, there was no bar for collecting the prize money from the kitty but instead the [country’s] Olympic sports had to bear the brunt as the PSB was asked to release the amount.
“Documents submitted by the PSB to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reveal that a hefty sum of Rs 205 crore was collected from the PSB’s kitty for cricketers. PCB is one of the richest organizations in the country and as such can easily spend and contribute to the benefit of cricketers in a big way.
“Olympic sports hardly get any grant from the government. It was unfair to deduct the PSB amount earmarked for Olympic sports in favor of cricketers. The PCB looks after the cricketers and apart from the government, there is no one to contribute to the cause of the other sportspersons who are preparing for national and international events,” said an official of the sports federations.
He reflected that Rs 205 crore was deducted from the amount earmarked for Olympic athletes at a time when the 12th South Asian Games scheduled in Nepal were around the corner.
“It was really unfair to take the amount for cricketers out of the sports budget meant for other sports. The PCB should have come alone and given the reward to the team that won the Champions Trophy instead of taking the money out of the PSB’s kitty.
“The prime minister is the main patron of PCB and has full right to divert part of the amount to the benefit of the cricketers or to give them financial reward. So why was the amount withdrawn from PSB’s kitty. The PSB was never heavily supported by the federation. The hefty amount of Rs 680 crore it received as special grant should have been completely diverted to Olympic sports,” the federation official added.
