LAHORE: The Pakistan Super League (PSL) will work as a separate company comprising five members while remaining under the custody of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), it was decided after the Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday.

The PCB will own total control and profits coming from the lucrative league as well, the country’s cricket chief Shaharyar Khan and PCB’s executive committee chairman Najam Sethi said at a joint news conference after a meeting which stretched eight hours.

“We had reservations over forming a separate company of the PSL but after Sethi [who worked as PSL’s chairman in its first edition last year] clarified that PCB will remain the parent body of the league, we were convinced,” Shaharyar said.

Sethi said that at first the SECP’s laws were not permitting any role of the PCB in PSL’s company as all the directors should’ve been from outside the PCB.

“The federal finance ministry, however, is now ready to make an amendment, allowing the company to have majority of the directors from PCB,” Sethi explained.

He informed that the company would be run by a five-member board including him, Mansoor Masood Khan (UBL) and Shakil Sheikh (Islamabad Region) from the PCB, and Arif Habib and Zia Rizvi from outside.

“One of the PCB nominees will be the CEO while one of the outside directors would be the chairman,” he added.

Sethi and Arif Habib look set to fill those posts respectively.

“The terms of tenure are yet to be decided since the constitution is still in the works but it will be finalized soon after consulting the five PSL franchises,” Sethi said.

“All over the world, leagues and boards work as private companies and we’re making strict arrangements to avoid any malpractices in the PSL affairs.”

Shaharyar, meanwhile, assured that there will be no case of conflict of interest as there will be definite roles assigned — both in the PCB and the PSL.

Answering a question about the conflict of interest in the roles of Director Academies Mudassar Nazar, Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur, selection committee member Tauseef Ahmed and some other PCB employees who enjoy roles with PSL teams, Shaharyar said that the practice would be stopped.

“This point was raised in the meeting of the Board of Governors and it has been decided that such conflict of interest will be avoided in the future,” he said

Sethi attended the last International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Cape Town as Shaharyar wasn’t well after heart surgery and informed that he’d strongly raised a case against the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) for constantly avoiding playing bilateral series against Pakistan.

“We’re suffering from a lot of financial losses since India refuses to play bilateral series against us and we’ve demanded compensation,” he said.

“The ICC has admitted our case and a committee has been formed under Giles Clarke to decide how to help the PCB.

“We’ve also asked the ICC to award us the points for every match of the pre-decided bilateral series that India refuses to play against us.”

Shaharyar meanwhile said that the meeting praised the performance of the national team in the recently concluded series against the West Indies as well as the preceding one against England.

“We hope for same performances in the upcoming series against New Zealand and Australia,” Shaharyar added.

The PCB chief said that special attention would be given to remote regions of Balochistan, Fata and Azad Kashmir and steps will be taken to promote the game there.

“The Fata region especially has been producing good batsmen, all-rounders and bowlers, so it deserves more attention,” Shaharyar said.

He said the reports of different committees including human resources, game development and others were received and studied and the decisions would be taken in the next meeting to be held in Karachi.

“The PCB would also take a decision in Karachi on how to honour Pakistan’s legendary batsman Hanif Mohammad [who passed away recently],” he added.

“The Kardar Cup would also be started in which government and private schools would first take part at the district and regional levels and then top schools would come to play at the national level.”

He said the meeting also decided not to change the current format of the domestic cricket in which both departmental and regional cricket teams were playing together in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy.

Shaharyar concluded saying that the BoG had raised no objection over the medical expense incurred on his heart surgery, which took place in London.

“As I do not get any pay from the PCB and work on a honorary basis, so the BOG members raised no objection on this emergency medical expense,” he clarified.

Published in Dawn November 9th, 2016