vicky sen
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Calcutta/ Karachi: Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf on Sunday alleged that he was threatened by the Board for Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), for opposing the structural overhaul of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“There were threats directed at Pakistan but our stance was clear,” Ashraf said while addressing a gathering in Lahore.
[On January 30, The Telegraph had hinted about such pressure, that would make the way for BCCI to gain huge control in the ICC. The report said: “It was in the interest of some, it seems, to keep both Pakistan and Sri Lanka ‘under pressure’ for different reasons.]
“But in the governance issue obviously our stance was clear and we could not support anything that went against our interests and our cricket,” he said. Ashraf was removed from his post last week by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for “mishandling Pakistan’s case in the changes brought in the ICC” and was replaced by Najam Sethi.
Pakistan had abstained from the voting in the ICC Board meeting in which the ‘Big Three’ — India, Australia and England — got majority of power in the ICC.
Ashraf said the PCB’s governing board was twice taken into confidence regarding Pakistan’s official stance on the issue and their stance was clear that Pakistan should not support the structural changes.
Ashraf said that as chairman, he had always tried to have a cordial working relationship with India and pushed for resumption of bilateral ties. “That is why to show goodwill we agreed to send our team to India last December without any financial rewards for us,” he added.
BCCI had threatened Pak: Zaka
“There were threats directed at Pakistan but our stance was clear,” Ashraf said while addressing a gathering in Lahore.
[On January 30, The Telegraph had hinted about such pressure, that would make the way for BCCI to gain huge control in the ICC. The report said: “It was in the interest of some, it seems, to keep both Pakistan and Sri Lanka ‘under pressure’ for different reasons.]
“But in the governance issue obviously our stance was clear and we could not support anything that went against our interests and our cricket,” he said. Ashraf was removed from his post last week by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for “mishandling Pakistan’s case in the changes brought in the ICC” and was replaced by Najam Sethi.
Pakistan had abstained from the voting in the ICC Board meeting in which the ‘Big Three’ — India, Australia and England — got majority of power in the ICC.
Ashraf said the PCB’s governing board was twice taken into confidence regarding Pakistan’s official stance on the issue and their stance was clear that Pakistan should not support the structural changes.
Ashraf said that as chairman, he had always tried to have a cordial working relationship with India and pushed for resumption of bilateral ties. “That is why to show goodwill we agreed to send our team to India last December without any financial rewards for us,” he added.
BCCI had threatened Pak: Zaka
