PCB officials splurged millions on foreign tours

Karachi [Pakistan], Dec. 4 (ANI): According to a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) report, it has been revealed that the board officials have wasted millions of rupees on international tours, with chairman Shahryar Khan alone spending Rs. 5.5 million on 14 tours. After the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination asked the PCB to submit the details of its officials' foreign tours, the cricket body, in its report, stated that Shahryar undertook 14 tours between October 2014 and July 2016 on account of International Cricket Council (ICC) meetings and various trips to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, UAE and England. According to the Express Tribune, approximately Rs. 3.5 million was spent on accommodation and daily allowance, while another Rs. 2 million was incurred as travel expenses. The report also states that PCB Executive Committee Chairman Najam Sethi went on 19 tours between November 2014 and June 2016, with most of his travels being to Dubai, besides him travelling to India twice and Qatar once. Like the PCB chairman, Sethi also attended ICC meetings, but a majority of his travels were also for Pakistan Super League (PSL)-related activities, negotiations with India over the bilateral series and procurement of bulletproof buses. It is estimated that Rs. 6.8 million were spend during Sethi's tours, including Rs. 3.3 million on accommodation and daily allowance and Rs. 3.5 million on travel expenses. The report further states that these figures neither include air tickets and lodgings provided by the ICC and other boards, nor the travel expenditure incurred by Sethi between 2013 and 2014 as the PCB chairman when he went on eight international tours - five to UAE, two to Bangladesh and one to England. During his term as the PCB chief, Sethi also attended ICC and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meetings-the airfare was covered by the hosts, but the accommodation, daily allowance and other travel expenditure relieved the PCB coffers by some Rs3.3 million. The report further states that between January 2013 and March 2014, former cricket board chairman Zaka Ashraf toured India, UAE, England, South Africa and Singapore seven times with the vast majority of these tours being for ICC-related duties. It is stated that Ashraf received approximately Rs. 1.5 million as accommodation and daily allowance, whereas the reimbursement of his travel expenses summed up to Rs. 1.7 million. In totality, a grand total of Rs. 12.1 million was spent on foreign tours of this trio during their tenures as the PCB chairman. However, these figures come nowhere in comparison to Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmed's foreign trips, who made 32 tours between January 2013 and July 2016, with those all costing almost Rs. 8.8 million. On the other hand, Badar Manzoor Khan, PCB's Chief Financial Officer, made only one tour last year, although his tally for the first six months of the current year had increased to a rather healthy three. Badar's foreign trips cost the cricket board Rs. 1.2 million altogether, while Director Marketing Naila Bhatti's nine tours of UAE cost Rs. 1.8 million. (ANI)