LAHORE, June 12: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), in a strong move on Thursday, removed former Test cricketer and senior official Salim Altaf along with two others for their alleged involvement in leakage of sensitive, confidential information to the press.

Salim, who has had an almost forty-year association with Pakistan cricket in various capacities including international cricketer, chief selector, director cricket operations and director for special project, had his services terminated in a controversial manner alongwith two other officials Mushtaq Ahmad (general manager finance) and Akram Gillani (coordinator).

While PCB claimed that it chose not to extend Salim’s contract, which was due till July 7, 2008 the former cricketer, who played 21 Test matches and six One-day Internationals from 1967 to 1978, said his contract was valid till the World Cup 2011 which is to be organised jointly by Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh.

“As there are no special projects, the PCB did not extend his period which is ending on July 7, 2008,” PCB media director Suhail Mansoor told the press while announcing the decision.

Later, Salim showed the copies of his PCB contract during a press briefing. The letter, under which Salim was re-designated as director special projects on April 18, 2007 and which is signed by PCB Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi, says: “I am pleased to re-designate you as director (Special Projects). You will continue to work on the digital screen installations project and may be assigned any other projects by the PCB at its discretion. You will remain on contract with the board till such a time as your services are transferred to the central organising committee (COC) of IPSB World Cup-2011 as executive director.

“Your contract with COC World Cup 2011 will commence as soon the committee becomes functional and the costs are recognized as events costs and charged to the event budget. The contract will end two months after the last match in the 2011 cricket World Cup.”.

In another letter written to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sharad Pawar by PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf, Salim Altaf had been appointed as director cricket operations for the World Cup-2011 on March 25, 2008.

Salim, who was appointed director cricket operations in 2005, was re-designated as chief operating officer of the PCB soon after Dr. Nasim Ashraf assumed the office in October 2006.

Talking to Dawn, Salim said that the PCB chairman called him in his office at the Gaddafi Stadium at 1.30pm on Thursday and asked him to resign. According to Salim, the chairman accused him of being involved in leaking confidential news to the media and also produced audio cassettes of telephonic conversation with some of his friends.

“I told the chairman that it is illegal to tape one’s phone unlawfully and that I was not privy to any sensitive information pertaining to the PCB as I had been sidelined for the past one year”, Salim said. “I refused to resign and told the chairman to sack me and give me a charge sheet.”

“Later, the security was called to throw me out and the chairman asked me never to enter the PCB offices again. He also impounded the official car I was using,” Salim alleged. “Everything is not ok and the present government should inquire into the incident as I am a well respected former Test cricketer who served Pakistan with his blood,” Salim lamented.