Advertisement
Advertisement
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) aims to sell Multan Sultans ahead of the start of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11, Cricinfo reported on Sunday.
A month earlier, the PCB had said that it would take charge of the franchise for the upcoming season and auction it after the tournament.
“As soon as the PSL ends, we will auction the franchise off, and in the next eight to ten days, we will appoint an acting head to run the franchise,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi stated.
The decision was taken after the former owner of the Multan Sultans, Ali Tareen, decided not to renew the franchise agreement for the next decade.
However, according to the report, the board is considering selling the outfit as soon as possible.
“The PCB is in active discussions to sell off the franchise as soon as legally possible. The proposal has the support of senior officials at the PCB and the PSL, with a final sign-off required by chairman Mohsin Naqvi,” the report quoted.
The decision is likely to be driven by record bids received during the historic auction for two new franchises — Hyderabad and Sialkot.
Following the conclusion of the auction, Naqvi vowed to run Sultans amid financial speculations.
“I took a challenge, and that is that there were a lot of claims on social media that the team was in losses. So I, and all of the team, decided that we will show you how much profit this business offers, publish the numbers before going for the auction,” Naqvi stated.
“The pressure has started to be built up on me to sell out the team,” he said in a light-hearted manner while referring to Naseer.
It is worth noting that Sultans were first acquired by the Dubai-based Schon Group in 2017 under an eight-year contract worth $5.2 million.
However, the deal was terminated after a year due to the franchisee’s inability to meet its financial obligations under the agreement.
