29 January 2005	Saturday	18 Zilhaj 1425

ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: Claims by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that free tickets worth Rs 12 million for last year's home series of five One-dayers with India were handed out have been proven wrong by the external auditors A.F.Ferguson & Company who have revealed that the actual figure stands close to Rs 30 million.

The audit report has now been submitted to the PCB and has brought to light startling new figures which only go to show that the cricket managers had been taking all and sundry for a ride.

The report yet to be made public as had been promised by PCB chairman Shaharyar M. Khan, shows that for the five One-day Internationals, tickets withdrawn by the Board amounted to Rs 16.991 million while those "unsold in hand" were worth Rs 12.014 million.

Muhammad Naeem, the former treasurer of PCB, who resigned last May had initially alleged that complimentary tickets worth about Rs 7 million were unaccounted for and distributed mainly by ex Chief Executive Ramiz Raja.

However, the PCB later in a press release said that free tickets worth Rs 12 million were given away under the heads of "administrative partners/management" and "contractual obligations". No verifiable record or detail of it could be produced by the board.

In that release, it was claimed that free tickets amounting to Rs 8.7 million for the One-dayers came under "contractual obligations". But the audit report reveals that 3145 tickets were withdrawn under the same head.

The amount of these tickets at the highest rate of Rs 1500 comes to Rs 4.7 million which is half the amount the PCB claims in its press release. What happened to tickets amounting to Rs 4 million is anybody's guess.

The Senate Standing Committee on Sports probing the affairs of PCB had felt that the amount of Rs 3.8 million (administrative partners/management) was too big and similarly the sum of Rs 8.7 million (contractual obligations) was massive.

Who were the actual beneficiaries of this bounty is still not known but the PCB has said all along that it had no choice but to give free tickets to various government agencies and departments.

As PCB went on doling out tickets to their friends and cronies, genuine fans had to queue up for hours on end and in some instances also had to face the wrath of the police.

The ticket controversy was also taken up by the Senate Standing Committee on Sports which grilled Shaharyar and Ramiz for being so generous. A trio of senators, among them Enver Baig, Aslam Buledi and Murad Ali Shah had even recommended that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigate PCB's accounts.

Allegations by former treasurer that there had been widespread corruption in the context of Pakistan-India series have now been proven right. He had earlier called upon Gen Pervez Musharraf to order an independent probe into the affairs of the Board.

Upset because of corruption allegations, the PCB and Ramiz filed a defamation case against the ex-treasrer in November. The case has yet to take off, although the former treasurer is said to have submitted his reply through his lawyers to the legal notice served on him.

He was not immediately available for comment on Friday. The audit report fully highlights the irregularities and corruption in distribution of tickets.

AUDITED FIGURES FOR ODIS ONLY 



Total tickets printed 115896              Face value Rs 90,694,211



Tickets sold 90,815                       Rs 61,148,127



Tickets withdrawn by PCB                  13,417; Rs 16,991,850



Unsold tickets in hand 11,264             Rs 12,014,234



Tickets not traceable: 400                Rs 540,000.