Pakistani cricket legend Javed Miandad has questioned Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) negligence over their handling of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
It is known to everyone that Pakistan cricket and PSL itself has witnessed many spot-fixing scandals which saw a number of good players go out of the game due to their involvement, and knowing that, airing PSL matches on the betting company's website is not really a small issue, says Miandad.
Former Pakistan captain further went on to call for an independent high-level inquiry to investigate how a media rights partner of the PCB could award the live streaming rights of five PSL matches to a UK based betting company where betting is legal.
Miandad said in an interview: “Pakistan is a cricket playing country which has already faced so many scandals and problems and also lost good players due to their involvement in betting and gambling, so the PSL matches being shown live on a betting company's website is not a small matter.”
He also questioned how the PCB was not aware all this time that one of their media rights partners is a betting company, asking even if betting is legal in the UK and the betting company live telecasted the matches only in those countries where betting is legal, but how could the PCB remain silent spectator into this matter since gambling and betting is illegal in Pakistan.
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The batting great added, “Gambling and betting is illegal in Pakistan and the PSL was held in Pakistan and it is hard for me to understand how the PCB was not aware all this time that one of their media rights partners had sublet the international live streaming rights to the UK based betting company?”
Meanwhile, the PCB has claimed that its media rights partner awarded the live streaming rights to the betting company without following any due process or informing the PCB.
However, the board said it is holding an inquiry and talking to its media rights partner about it, but Miandad said there should be an independent inquiry committee to look into the matter immediately.
He signed off by saying, “Any inquiry within the board will serve no purpose as obviously in any scenario some of their officials would be responsible for this mess.”
(With PTI Inputs)
