July 23, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 19, 1429

RAWALPINDI, July 22: The security concerns raised in the recently held International Cricket Council meeting in Dubai by some cricket playing nations were of minor nature and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could easily address them.

This was stated by Col Zulfiqar, PCB security officer for the ICC Champions Trophy, while talking to Dawn during the inspection of the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Rawalpindi is one of the three venues which will hold matches of the ICC mega event, including a semi-final, from Sept 11 to 28.

When asked about the concerns raised by some cricket playing nations at the ICC CEO’s meeting in Dubai, he said one of the demands was to install vehicle scanners at the venues, which the PCB could easily fulfil.

Commenting about security at the venue, Col Zulfiqar said: “The security at the stadium will be very strict as no vehicles will be allowed to come close to the stadium except VIP cars with stickers, while spectators will arrive at the stadium from a shuttle service to be run by the PCB.”

The security officer further said, “Every individual will be searched thoroughly before entering into the stadium.”

Some players from Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa have raised concerns about playing in Pakistan as the country is facing security threats.

Col Zulfiqar pointed out that ‘electronic sweeping of the stadium would be done before start of matches while X-ray machines with metal detectors would also be installed’.