Loud Thinking August 02, 2014 at 02:46PM

Sethi and Co lobby for Arif Abbasi as next PCB chairman

By Mohammad Yaqoob
Published by Dawn about 9 hours ago

LAHORE: While Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has failed to follow the orders of the Supreme Court to appoint an ad hoc chairman at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) within seven days and hold the elections for the top slot, former chairman Najam Sethi and his punters have started lobbying for Arif Ali Khan Abbasi as the new chairman of the Board.

On July 21 the double-bench of the Supreme Court, while disposing of different cases of the PCB, had ordered the prime minister as patron of the PCB to appoint an ad hoc chairman and an election commissioner within seven days to hold fresh elections inside 30 days. However, no announcement to the effect has been made by the premier so far.

Meanwhile, sources told Dawn that Sethi has put his weight behind ex-PCB chief Arif Abbasi and also met him in Karachi to offer him his support as the next chairman of the cricket board. Since Sethi is quite close to the PM, his recommendation for the next PCB chairman will carry a lot of weight.

The sources say that Sethi is quite keen to have such a person as the next PCB chairman who could endorse his policies and uphold the many decisions taken during his tenure. Sources further said Arif is most likely to accept all terms and conditions put forward by Sethi in order to get elected as the new chairman.

It may be mentioned that while Sethi has quit the PCB chairman’s post on July 21, he will continue to act as a member of the powerful Governing Board for the next three years.

The sources also said that former chairman Zaka Ashraf, who has been Sethi’s main rival during the tug-of-war over the chairman’s seat, will also not raise any objections to Arif’s appointment since he had himself appointed the Karachi-based bureaucrat as cricket consultant after he (Zaka) was restored as PCB chairman following a decision by the Islamabad High Court.

The sources said even the incumbent chief selector and manager Moin Khan and head coach Waqar Younis are also in the good books of Arif and hence no change is likely in the team management as well if Arif takes over as the next PCB chief.

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