2023 was a year full of controversies. Pakistani’s favorite sport – Cricket – wasn’t the only sport which was marred with issues, rather it spread to other games as well.
Zaka Ashraf Tenure
Ex-cricketer, Ramiz Raja, was Imran Khan’s, ex-Prime Minister, favorite which resulted in him getting the post of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman in 2021.
Raja was shown the door in late 2022, which paved the way for Najam Sethi to enter the PCB premises again. It came as a surprise as the then Prime Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, had lauded Raja and no one expected him to get ousted.
Great story shared by PM Shehbaz Sharif about Ramiz Raja’s father from his days as a student. https://t.co/jaOJsINbNo
— Reham Khan (@RehamKhan1) December 5, 2022
Sethi re-introduced the 2014 constitution, including departmental cricket, but his days were outnumbered, as he decided to not stand in elections for the next Chairman of the PCB because it could’ve caused a rift between Shahbaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, ex-President of Pakistan.
In came Zaka Ashraf, a businessperson, who had served in the PCB before, but his tenure became (if not the most) one of the most controversial.
The peak of the controversies was leaking the private chat of the national cricket team captain, Babar Azam.
They leaked Babar Azam’s private WhatsApp chats?
Pakistani players ko milta kya hai ko unse itni expectations rakhte ho? This is disgusting, he still has three matches to play in this World Cup pic.twitter.com/8eHSG2oygT— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta) October 29, 2023
The controversy ended after the completion of the World Cup, as Babar Azam gave his resignation as a captain of all three formats of cricket.
Ashraf had also promised that the 2023 Asia Cup would be held in Pakistan, but only 4 matches could take place in the green nation as India didn’t want to travel to Pakistan.
Incoming Chairman PCB Zaka Ashraf rejects Hybrid Model for Asia cup, I didn’t agree with this system says Zaka Ashraf pic.twitter.com/ue1pvFuybo
— Zubair Ali Khan (@ZubairAlikhanUN) June 21, 2023
The Zaka Ashraf-led board decided to name Salman Butt, a convicted match-fixer, as a selector of the national team which left the fans infuriated. Pakistan’s chief selector, Wahab Riaz, wanted Butt and Kamran Akmal as his associates but had to backtrack from one of the names after the fans showed their anger.
Breaking News
فاختہ چئیرمین پی سی بی مینجمنٹ کمیٹی ذکاء اشرف صاحب کی مبینہ آڈیو منظر عام پر لے آئی. کیسے انہوں نے پلاننگ کی.کیسے محمد رضوان کو وائیٹ بال کی کپتانی نہ کرنے دی.بابر اعظم کے خلاف کونسا پلان بی تیار تھا فاختہ سب منظر عام پر لے آئی،،،@TalhaAisham
پر الزام عائد کیا کہ… pic.twitter.com/Kxy1a3dAnv— Qadir Khawaja (@iamqadirkhawaja) December 18, 2023
The record-breaking series of Pakistan women’s cricket team defeating New Zealand in their land wasn’t broadcast on Pakistani channels, as no one had the rights to show it to the Pakistani audience.
HUM News reported that over 14 billion PKR (Pakistani rupees) financial irregularities occurred in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) accounts, but there’s no swift response from PCB which can lessen the fans confusion.
Zaka Ashraf-led tenure was/is full of vengeance. One of the targets of this was Pakistani fast bowler, Haris Rauf.
Rauf refused to play for Pakistan’s Test side in Australia, which prompted PCB to delay his ‘No Objection Certificate (NoC)’ which was required to play in the Australian T20 league, Big Bash.
The last, of many, controversies is regarding the delay in player salaries. Pakistan’s national team players played for multiple months without a monthly salary, as PCB wasn’t ready to give them their due course in NFT (Non-Fungible Token) sales.
Issues In Pakistan’s Football
Linking the delay in salaries of the cricket team, similar issues happened with the salaries of the national players in football.
Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalization Committee (NC) Chairperson, Haroon Malik, had confirmed that all players – men, women, Under-23, Under-19 and Under-16 – dues will be settled by December 2023, but there is no official update if the players have been paid or not.
PFF’s headquarters, FIFA House, in Lahore was sealed by the Punjab authorities over a financial issue that dated many years back. PFF faced issues while conducting their day-to-day work which caused a delay in applying for the visas for the national team’s trip to Saudi Arabia to play in a FIFA World Cup qualification match.
Supporters of the national side were left bemused as to why the senior team wasn’t sent to the Asian Games in China. Pakistan’s Under-23 team, which mostly consisted of senior team players, was sent to the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup qualifier matches during the same timeframe, this left many questions in the mind of the audience.
Pakistan’s football teams faced NoC issues throughout the year. The highlight of the issues was when Pakistan men’s football team had to travel to India to play in the 2023 SAFF Championship, but their first match had to be delayed by a day as the team hadn’t gotten the clearance to travel to the neighboring country.
The NoC process is a lengthy one, as the sports authorities have recommended to apply for the NoC/Visa six weeks prior to an international event.
The problem is, how can a team apply for a NoC/Visa six weeks prior when it only gets to qualify for a tournament less than a month before it begins?
Pakistan introduced many diaspora players in the football set-up this year. One issue was the lack of passport lamination papers.
A national team player must have a Pakistani passport to represent the national side in an international match. Passports weren’t being made because a special paper used to make the passport was short, so the diaspora players couldn’t get inducted into the team.
Hockey Coach Left Due To Non-Payment Of Salary
Pakistan national hockey team’s Dutch head coach, Siegfried Aikman, wasn’t paid a year’s worth of salary by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) which resulted in him leaving the national side and going back.
Aikman was living on his savings for the entire year, and once his patience ran out, he decided to leave the job and head back home.
Other Sports
Pakistan men’s baseball team wasn’t sent to the 2023 Asian Games, although it had won the 2023 West Asian Baseball Cup.
The Pakistani sporting authorities weren’t ready to send the team to the Asian Games as they weren’t sure whether the team will bring a medal or not.
The last of the controversies is related to athletics. Pakistan’s premier runner, Sahib-e-Asra, had received new shoes worth 55,000 PKR as a gift. However, she was served a notice to pay 68,000 PKR in luxury-item taxes which came as a surprise to her.
A Silver medalist at the 2019 South Asian Games, she was left confused about what to do. Through the power of social media, she raised her voice over the concern and was able to get the spikes cleared without paying heavy tax.
I have received the spikes from customs without paying heavy tax. I'm very thankful to the people from Pakistan customs who helped to realise my spikes also i want to thanks to geo news & Faizan Lakhani & everyone who raised voice on social media for me.
Keep supporting 💯. pic.twitter.com/qdBIV0OFUt— Sahib-e-Asra (@SprinterAsra) July 25, 2023
Which controversy do you think was the biggest? Tell us in the comments.
