LAHORE: Unfulfilled promises and chequered transactions by a leading sports tv channel which was awarded the media rights for the Pakistan-Sri Lanka series held in the UAE recently has left the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) quite embarrassed and unhappy, Dawn learnt on Saturday.

The PCB’s decision to award tv rights to the private sports channel was mired with controversy as the experts of the game said it smacked of favouritism due to then PCB chairman Najam Sethi’s close association with it.

A local bank official privy to the deal said the bank guarantee was to be cashed to pay PCB the last instalment but it did not happen the way Board had desired.

It may be mentioned here that the bank guarantee was also deposited by the private sports channel after the PCB wrote several letters to it regarding clearance of payment.

The banker said the PCB had written a letter to the bank on Jan 31 in which it was asked to cash bank guarantee deposited by the channel as the PCB wanted the chapter closed as soon as possible.

While the PCB insisted that the bank pays the last installment worth Rs 311,944,500, the amount finally released by the bank was Rs 166,944,500 after the deduction of tax.

The PCB had also demanded that the amount be paid in US dollars but the bank refused to do so, claiming the Letter of Credit was opened in local currency.

Meanwhile, no PCB official was ready to make any official comment on the row, saying it was all confidential stuff. However, an official on condition of anonymity, admitted that the PCB is the disgruntled party in the deal and would be more careful in awarding the media rights to any private channel in the future.