LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has dismissed claims about its financial instability, asserting that it is on track to make an estimated profit of Rs3 billion from hosting the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

At a press conference held here on Thursday, Amir Mir, advisor to the PCB chairman, countered media reports, particularly those from India, which suggested that the PCB had suffered financial losses from the Champions Trophy.

He also criticised local media for echoing these claims. “The Indian media has spread propaganda about PCB’s financial struggles related to the Champions Trophy, and unfortunately, the Pakistani media has followed suit,” Amir Mir said. “In reality, we are anticipating a profit of Rs3 billion, which surpasses our initial estimate of Rs2 billion.”

He clarified that not a single rupee from the PCB’s funds was spent on the event, as the ICC fully covered all expenses related to the tournament.

“The final profit will be confirmed once the ICC completes its audit, but we are confident that our profit will be Rs3 billion,” added Amir, who was joined by the PCB’s chief financial officer Javed Murtaza.

Amir said that the PCB’s successful organisation of the event had also demonstrated to the international community that Pakistan is fully capable of hosting major global events.

He pointed out that the Indian narrative about security concerns preventing their team from visiting Pakistan had been debunked.

“All participating teams had a successful and safe visit to Pakistan, with no security incidents reported,” he said.

Amir further reinforced the PCB’s strong financial standing, highlighting a record profit of Rs10 billion in the last fiscal year (2023-24).

Meanwhile, CFO Javed said a budget of Rs18 billion had been allocated for the upgradation of the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, National Bank Stadium in Karachi, and the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

He said that the the first phase has seen Rs10 billion spent, with the second phase set to enhance these stadiums further.

Additionally, plans are in place to upgrade three other stadiums — Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad, Multan Stadium, and Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad — over the next year, bringing Pakistan closer to having six or seven international-standard stadiums.

Responding to questions about the recent reduction in match fees for domestic cricketers, Javed explained that the PCB is currently streamlining its domestic cricket structure.

“The adjustment in match fees was made to better align the domestic setup for future growth, and it is not related to PCB’s financial health,” he stated.

It should be noted that while the PCB initially implemented significant cuts in the match fees and allowances for domestic players, these cuts were later adjusted, though not fully restored to previous levels.

Addressing further queries, Amir clarified that the decision to reduce match fees had been taken at a lower level but was later changed following the interference of PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, making it a settled matter.

Javed also clarified that despite the chairman’s relatively short tenure in the last fiscal year (from February 2024), his revision of the target profit to Rs10 billion for 2023-24 helped boost the PCB’s overall financial health.

“In addition to this, the PCB paid Rs4 billion in taxes to the government last year, a sharp increase from the Rs1.5 billion paid previously,” he added.

The PCB’s financial decisions, including the freeze on staff salaries and pensions for former Test cricketers, as well as the reductions in domestic match fees, had sparked concerns about the board’s financial health.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2025