Office of chairman or CEO may be abolished (29 July 1999)

29 July 1999

Office of chairman or CEO may be abolished

The Dawn

Karachi, July 28: The constitution of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) might be amended in the backdrop of power tussle between the former officials of the establishment.

According to informed sources, the ad hoc committee chairman Mujeebur Rahman discussed the issue with the board's legal advisor.

Various options were discussed but Mujeeb has yet to make up his mind what suggestion he has to present before the Patron, sources said.

But definitely one of the proposals that emerged after the summit was to recommend to the Patron to appoint just one official, sources added.

"We have just started to look into the issue and to have one official is definitely one of the suggestions that might be submitted to the Patron," well placed sources said.

This means that the ad hoc committee might recommend the Patron to abolish one of the either posts - chairman or chief executive. "The objective will be that the executive council and the general body knows exactly who was the boss for the next three years and also eliminate the prospect of horse-trading."

The other suggestion was to clearly define the powers of the chairman and the chief executive. "The constitution which is SRO-65-KE/95 issued under the Sports and Development Control Ordinance of 1962, doesn't define the powers of the chairman and the chief executive and leaves it to the general body to decide the same."

Another subject that discussed during the meeting was the restoration of the same executive council and the general body that was superseded by President Farooq Leghari in January 1994.

Sources said when the PCB was constituted in 1995, a new-look executive council and the general body should have been inducted.

"But sadly, the same BCCP executive council and the general body was inducted as if they were the general body and the executive council of the PCB. Although the PCB was a totally new entity.

"An effort was made when the scrutiny of clubs was done but the exercise was not implemented for unknown reasons.

"A fresh scrutiny of clubs would be done following which the elections would be held in all the associations. The newly-elected officials of the associations will then be inducted in the board. There is a possibility that the list of the nominees (in the executive council and the general body) might have to get the approval of the Patron," briefed the sources.

The ad hoc committee chairman also took a detailed briefing from the legal advisor of the cricket board, Ali Sibtain Fazli, on the series of complaints lying before the PCB.

During the meeting, the ad hoc committee chairman clarified that the board was conducting its own in-house investigations into the World Cup debacle.

Sources added that though the chairman appreciated that second place was a no mean achievement, he continued that series of allegations need to be investigated.

"There are charges of match-fixing in the game against Bangladesh, misconduct of the players on the England tour, including reports that five players had a night-out on the eve of the final.

"This needs to be investigated. The truth has to be found out and players found guilty have to be dealt with. And if the allegations are false, then the newspapers have to be dealt with."

The ad hoc committee chairman also explained that the Accountability Cell was assisting the board to reach the truth. Mujeeb, sources said, had requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for assistance "and the Prime Minister deputed the Accountability Cell.

"The Prime Minister could have asked any investigating agency and it just happened that he (Prime Minister) asked the Accountability Cell to provide the necessary assistance (to the ad hoc committee)," sources said.

Source :: The Dawn(www.dawn.com)