Pak NA Sports Committee chief resigns over govt’s apathy towards cricket

ISLAMABAD - The chairman of Pakistan’s National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports has resigned in frustration over the dismal state of affairs in national cricket, and the government’s apathy towards the implementation of recommendations made by the committee for the betterment of sports in the country.

“The state of cricket affairs is before everyone, it is in poor shape and yet nothing is being done to change the tide,” the Daily Times quoted Iqbal Muhammad Ali, as saying in a news conference on Saturday.

“I am resigning because the government has not bothered to implement any of the recommendations by this committee for improvement and betterment of sports in the country,” he added.

The National Assembly Sports Committee has frequently summoned officials from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to appear before it, most recently over the spot-fixing allegations against three key players, and has publicly called for PCB chairman Ijaz Butt to resign.

Iqbal said that his committee had written to President Asif Ali Zardari more than twice to remove Butt and his management team to improve the affairs of cricket, but the PCB patron-in-chief did not accept their suggestions.

“What the International Cricket Council (ICC) is saying today about the bad governance in the PCB, we have pointed it out many months back, but the President is unwilling to listen to us and take an action against Ijaz But,” he said.

Iqbal also demanded the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the spot-fixing allegations as well as the episode of wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider’s escape to London. (ANI)