PCB is answerable to us: IPC official

ISLAMABAD, Nov 3 (APP): The Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are at loggerheads as the ministry Tuesday said the board is answerable to them since a representative of the Ministry sits on the PCB’s governing board.
It is pertinent to mention that IPC Minister Mian Riaz Hussain
Pirzada Monday sought explanation from the PCB regarding their meeting
with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that was cancelled
due to the protest of Shiv Sena activists.
On the other hand, the PCB, in a statement here Tuesday, said the
board is an autonomous organization, answerable to its Patron, the
Prime Minister of Pakistan, and its board of governors. Both the stakeholders have been kept apprised of the developments with regard to
the PCB and BCCI matters.
The PCB said it has always conducted its negotiations with the BCCI
and other national cricketing entities independently, with the government
at no stage ever preventing it from so doing. The ICC is sensitive to government’s interference in affairs of its member boards.
Meanwhile, an IPC official while talking to APP on Tuesday, said
the PCB is answerable to the IPC Ministry as a representative of the ministry is in the PCB’s governing board.
“We have not given any time limit in the letter we wrote to the PCB
on Monday but we will be waiting for their reply in this regard,” he said.
He said the PCB-BCCI issue will also be discussed in the Assembly as
it is a matter of the country’s prestige. “No matter what the PCB says but an answer regarding our letter to them is required,” he said.
When asked that why did the IPC Minister delay for more than two
weeks in seeking explanation from the PCB regarding the BCCI matter, the
official said the minister was on leave for 12 days and as soon as he returned he inquired about the issue.
However when contacted, a PCB official confirmed that a
representative of the IPC Ministry is in the PCB’s governing board.