The continuing uncertainty over Pakistani players’ participation in the Indian Premier League has prompted the National Assembly’s standing committee on sports to summon PCB officials for an explanation on December 17.
An announcement by the Parliamentary committee said it had also summoned officials of the Pakistan Football Federation and Pakistan Tennis Federation to explain recent performances in their respective sports.
“The PCB officials have been summoned to explain how they facilitated the players in obtaining clearance and visas to play in the IPL which appears difficult now,” a committee member said.
The parliamentary committee has been at loggerheads with PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt for months now and there have been some harsh statements made by committee head Jamshed Dasti.
After the Champions Trophy in South Africa, the committee caused a stir by summoning Mr. Butt to explain allegations that the team under-performed in some matches of the tournament.
A committee member said he wanted to know about the PCB’s role in the IPL issue as it appeared; Pakistani players were being undermined by the IPL officials.
“The IPL officials have claimed the PCB didn’t submit required documents and visas for their players by a deadline that was already extended by them. So, our players can’t take part in the IPL directly next year in India. We want to know how the board facilitated the players or whether once again it messed up things,” he said.
