12 August 2004	Thursday	25 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

LAHORE, Aug 11: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to give a written reply to a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Sports for what it considers highly defamatory remarks against the PCB chairman and former chief executive.

A PCB spokesman without mentioning the name of the senator said that "At the Senate committee meeting on Aug 10, Muhammad Naeem's resignation as treasurer of the PCB was circulated and highly defamatory remarks were made against the chairman and CEO by a Senator."

"At this stage, the PCB will not issue a public rejoinder to the senator's comments and will answer his queries in writing but some clarifications with regard to Naeem's resignation are necessary for the record", the spokesman said.

The PCB alleged that the committee was deliberately leaking the information to the press only for public posturing. Meanwhile, the PCB spokesman issued a written statement clarifying the situation with regard to Naeem's resignation, adding the accusation made by him would be answered shortly and in the meantime his resignation had been accepted.

THE TEXT IS:

a. Mr Naeem submitted his resignation along with his accusations to the chairman on May 13, 2004. On receipt of the resignation, the chairman informed Mr Naeem that most of his complaints related to the period of the Indian tour.

Because of the extreme shortage of time (18 days compared to a usual preparation period of three months) it was necessary to take decisions on an emergency basis for that particular tour.

Mr Naeem himself sat on various committees that took these emergency decisions, especially the tender marketing committee. Mr Naeem maintained that no action should be taken on his resignation, which should be considered withdrawn, and the matter could be discussed on his return from Saudi Arabia/South Africa.

b. In June 2004, when news was leaked to the press that Mr Naeem hadresigned, the PCB chairman telephoned him in South Africa to enquire if he stood by his earlier statement that his resignation be considered withdrawn. Mr Naeem confirmed the earlier understanding.

c. Later when the issue was raised in the Senate Committee, the chairman enquired from Mr Naeem, for the third time, if his understanding that the resignation be considered withdrawn.

This was again confirmed by Mr Naeem and no conditions were made regarding the resignation. He felt that despite LUMS recommendations to the contrary, the post of Honorary Treasurer should not be abolished.

He also discussed the possibility of his representing Pakistan on the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Finance Committee. These issues were to be discussed on the chairman's return from Colombo on Aug 7, 2004. Meanwhile, Mr Naeem has been attending office regularly.

d. From the above stated developments, Mr Naeem's word as a senior officer and a gentleman had been accepted by the chairman. He was therefore surprised to hear from Mr Naeem at the Senate Committee meeting on Tuesday that he considered his resignation not to have been withdrawn.

Even more surprising was the fact that Mr Naeem did not discuss issues such as his possible assignment with ACC or continuing with PCB despite LUMS recommendations. The least that was expected from Mr Naeem was for him to inform the chairman, even on the telephone, that he was resigning on the basis of his original decision. This was not done.