Franchise cricket has often fallen prey to illicit activities, but the Pakistan Cricket Board has introduced new policies to combat any such threats and keep the PSL squeaky clean.
According to sports journalist Saleem Khaliq, for the second consecutive season, no Integrity Officers have been assigned to individual teams in the PSL. Instead, the PCB’s own Anti-Corruption Department is handling all related responsibilities, from monitoring players at team hotels to conducting educational sessions, without making its presence felt in the public eye.
This is a change from the league’s early years, when each team had a designated Integrity Officer who was tasked with ensuring that players stayed clear of suspicious individuals and potential match-fixing threats. Those roles have now been phased out.
According to sources within the board, the decision to drop Integrity Officers is another step towards giving the PSL autonomy, which also means it no longer requires oversight from the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit, which was involved in the tournament’s formative years.
Instead, the PCB’s internal anti-corruption staff now work behind the scenes, often embedded at team hotels and operating without any overt presence. The board has emphasized education over surveillance this season, with all squads receiving detailed briefings complete with videos and written protocols on how to spot and report suspicious approaches.
So far, according to PCB officials, no red flags have been raised during this year’s tournament. In recent years as well, the PSL has been mostly free of off-field controversies—something that wasn’t always the case in its early seasons.
In a time when several high-profile leagues are under the microscope for oddities, the PSL’s untarnished reputation speaks volumes of the PCB’s efforts to increase its integrity.
With the PSL completing ten years this year, the board is adamant about making it better both on and off the field.
