Pakistan board drawn in to further mire

His wasn't the most notable resignation in recent weeks, but it was probably the most controversial one. Mohammad Naeem, the treasurer of the Pakistan Cricket Board for over four years, handed in his notice on May 13, but details of the four-page document containing the reasons behind his departure have only just been made public, at the ongoing probe by the Senate Standing Committee in Sports into the PCB's affairs, and they make for some explosive reading.

Naeem levelled a number of serious charges against the board, ranging from gross financial misdemeanours, mismanagement and favouritism, to the lack of transparency and accountability and misuse of power in the workings of, in particular, Shaharyar Khan, the chairman, and the former chief executive Rameez Raja, who resigned last week. He questioned, among other things, why an amount of US$3million that was deposited with the Allied Bank had been held back by the bank, despite written instructions by Shaharyar to transfer the amount from the Board's account as long bago as April 9 this year.

"This is a serious violation and unacceptable behaviour on the part of this bank and the same is liable to be reported to the State Bank [of Pakistan] for penal action," Naeem said in his letter. "Obviously Allied Bank Ltd would not have taken such a daring step if one of their employees was not the CEO of the PCB." The employee and the CEO in question was Rameez, who has held a senior position with the bank for some years now, alongside his Board and commentary duties.

Other allegations included a lack of transparency in awarding a number of contracts for various services such as the provision for lunches and seating during the home series against India. Naeem also criticised the ongoing involvement of Riaz Mahmood as marketing consultant to the PCB. Mahmood, who was hired by the PCB chairman, had thus far received, according to Naeem, Rs2million for his services, plus, possibly, a percentage of the total income generated from the Pakistan-India series. Shaharyar has been persistently criticised for hiring Mahmood as an expensive consultant - whom, it is alleged, he knew personally - and not a fulltime marketing employee.

While the accusations constituted a serious blow to Shaharyar's continuing campaign to transform the PCB into a modern, efficient, and above all a financially transparent organisation, there were concerns that they are little more than part of a wider agenda by Naeem and the Senate Committee to discredit the PCB. The News reported, the day after the allegations were published, that Naeem's anger stemmed from the decision by the PCB in March to cancel 400 tickets that he had bought for his friends and family for the Lahore one-dayers against India.

The newspaper, quoting a source in the board, reported that the chairman had allocated a certain quota of paid tickets for board officials and their family and friends for the one-dayers against India. But owing to the increased demand from the public for tickets halfway though the series, it was decided at an emergency board meeting to reduce drastically the number of tickets allotted to officials, and instead offer them for sale to the general public. And it was here that the trouble apparently began; while other officials had their ticket allocation reduced, Naeem's allocation of 400 was scrapped altogether.

The Senate Committee, led by the vociferous Enver Baig, has hounded the PCB relentlessly since the end of the Indian tour. The committee meeting, at which Naeem's resignation was made public, was the third in a series of uncomfortable grillings for the PCB's top brass. Their inquisitions were a belligerent mix of the incisive and the comically ill-conceived, encompassing questions of the PCB's continued ad-hocism, but also including thinly veiled personal attacks on Shaharyar and Rameez.

At times, the questioning revealed poor research and knowledge on the part of the committee. The committee had previously asked Wasim Bari, the chief selector, whether he was involved in the controversial selection of Tauqir Zia's son Junaid, overlooking the fact that it was Aamir Sohail - and not Bari - who was in charge of selection then. And they continued to ask, with a dangerously nationalistic fervour, for the reasons behind Pakistan's loss to India at home.

The PCB hasn't yet replied to Naeem's charges officially, although it had expressed its displeasure at the way the committee leaked what is essentially confidential information. A source in the PCB, while talking to Wisden Cricinfo, suggested that the whole affair was little more "than a childish tit-for-tat spat. It is like an argument between children. The treasurer is just annoyed at the way he has been treated and is taking it out on the PCB. And the committee, well, they are just committed to dismantling the PCB at whatever cost."

Whatever the reasons behind the charges, they come on the back of a harrowing period for the PCB. Rameez's resignation came after those of other senior PCB staff, including the media manager Samiul Hasan and Irfan Mirza. And little over a month ago, Javed Miandad was replaced as coach of the national teamby Bob Woolmer. Unlike the resignations, this issue is likely to drag on and on.