Parliament Backs Shahid Afridi's Demand To Sack Ijaz Butt
Parliamentary sports panels are standing by cricket star Shahid Afridi and on Tuesday asked PCB Patron-in-Chief Asif Zardari to reorganise the PCB after removal of its Chairman Ijaz Butt.
The panel chairmen, both from the government and the opposition parties demanded that Afridi should be allowed comeback in international cricket and lead the Pakistani team. A depressed Afridi, who was removed from the captaincy, announced retirement from international cricket as a protest against the PCB attitude.
The Senate and National Assembly’s Committees on Sports held that the PCB patron-in-chief would be responsible for further deterioration of the cricket game in Pakistan if the PCB administration was given a free hand to humiliate star players and team leaders. “Only solution to the existing problems and put cricket on the right track is to reorganise the board without delay as Shahid Afridi’s protest is genuine and the people are deeply concerned over what is going on with the sport they love,” said Chairman Senate’s body Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi.
He told The News that the patron-in-chief (president) should have taken immediate notice stopping the PCB from destroying cricket due to abrupt and frequent changes of captains. The NA’s committee chairman Iqbal Ali Khan, who submitted his resignation that was not accepted by the NA Speaker, said Afridi’s arguments from quitting the international cricket are valid and the development has demoralized the nation.
“The president should come forward while taking a cognizance of the Afridi protest and revamp the whole PCB without delay if the cricket loving Pakistani nation is to be satisfied.” Both Qureshi, PML-Q senator, and Iqbal Ali, MQM MNA, did not spare any one in the cricket council including its Chairman Ijaz Butt.
“The PCB Chairman introduced six captains in the short span of 2-3 years. “Whereas the examples are here that Australia, England and even India let their skippers continue despite their teams defeats
