12 April 2004	Monday	21 Safar 1425

LAHORE, April 11: Former Test leg-spinner Abdul Qadir alleged on Sunday he was disgraced by Pakistan Television (PTV) as the latter had unilaterally breached an agreement with him.

Addressing a press conference, Qadir said that the PTV had signed a contract with him for a programme on the matches between Pakistan and India. Qadir said that according to the contract, he had to comment live on every match day (Test and ODIs). "I have completed 11 programmes but I was told my contract with PTV stood cancelled on April 7."

"I contacted the PTV general manager in Islamabad, who advised me to continue and, therefore, I went to the PTV station in Lahore on April 7 but I was denied entry," Qadir said.

He said that the PTV was public property but he, who also had Pride of Performance Award, was denied entry which was totally unfair and unjust. Qadir appealed to the president of Pakistan to order an inquiry into his case.

Answering a question, Qadir denied that during one of his programmes on the PTV he had indirectly alleged that Pakistani bowlers had been involved in ball tempering. "It is a technical point.

I only said the Pakistani bowlers have been making the shape of the ball to get wicket and it is a legal process. The ball tempering is a different thing and it is illegal," he said.

Qadir said that he would serve a legal notice on the PTV administration before going to a court of law to get justice. The PTV had not paid him Rs 110,000 for his 11 programmes, he added.