The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) held a crucial meeting with all the PSL franchise owners on Friday to discuss the fate of the PSL matches that were supposed to take place in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
The interim Punjab government demanded an exorbitant sum of PKR500 million from PCB to conduct the matches, out of which PKR50 million was already paid for food expenses.
Now, the government is asking for the remaining PKR450 million for lighting and security, which has put the PCB in a tight spot.
In order to avoid these expenses, the board is mulling over moving the Punjab-leg of PSL 8 to Karachi.
The meeting, which was conducted through video conferencing, saw the PSL franchise owners granting the final decision-making authority to the PCB management committee chairman, Najam Sethi.
However, Sethi believes that giving in to the government’s demand will not set a good precedent and will result in financial losses for the board and PSL franchises.
The PSL franchises have also refused to pay the PKR450 million demanded by the government, and the PCB is currently in negotiations with them to find a solution.
Another emergency meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow if the matter is not resolved by tonight.
The PCB has presented an alternative plan to the PSL franchises, suggesting that the remaining matches be moved to Karachi.
If this plan is implemented, the matches scheduled for Lahore during the New Zealand series are also likely to be shifted to Karachi.