Curators’ contracts extended: PCB terminates financial assistance to regions

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has terminated the financial assistance to regions for grounds’ development, maintenance and management and have directed to hand the grounds to provincial bodies to be named shortly who will maintain them as their home grounds.In a statement, PCB stated that it had awarded two-month contracts to curators who were previously employed by the 16 regions until 19 August 2019. Through an extension to that arrangement, the PCB has decided that it will make an additional two-month ex-gratia payment to these curators i.e. until 19 December 2019, following which the ground owners themselves will make a decision pertaining to their future employment at the respective grounds. In this relation, the PCB has already contacted most of the curators to inform them of the decision, and their payments are expected to be transferred into their bank accounts very soon.Meanwhile, a study carried out by the PCB Domestic Cricket Operations Department on the state and condition of the 63 grounds which were either developed or facilitated by PCB, has revealed staggering mismanagement and misuse of valuable funds, resulting in the current deplorable conditions of the grounds. The audit exercise has further revealed 27 grounds were not fit to host any level of cricket matches, while barring a few, the remaining 36 grounds are also not up to the required standard to stage PCB-organised matches. Similarly, at a number of grounds, matches have not been held in the last few years, while the investigations have also unearth cases of ghost employees.As the 16 regions have ceased to exist following the promulgation of the new PCB Constitution on 19 August 2019, the PCB has decided it will no longer provide financial support for ground-related expenses. The PCB has also decided these grounds will be handed over to the six Cricket Associations, who will be required to develop, maintain, manage and use them as ‘home’ venues in their respective jurisdictions.

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