KARACHI, Jan 1 Pakistan`s Senate`s Standing Committee on Sports, the watchdog of sports federations in the country, has asked the cricket board (PCB) to explain the recent sackings and new hirings in the PCB.

The committee, which has been overseeing the activities of various federations for the last two years, has asked PCB chairman Ijaz Butt and director-general Javed Miandad to appear before it on Jan 6.

“The purpose is to find out the number of employees fired by the board since Butt took over and why posts which have been filled recently were not advertised,” a senator who is on the committee said on Thursday. “We just want to ensure that no injustice has been done to anyone and that only qualified persons have been given choice postings in the board,” he said.

Since taking over the affairs of PCB, Ijaz and company have embarked on a mission to not only reduce budgetary expenses but also to cut down the workforce which according to them is necessary in the present financial crunch faced by the board due to the postponement of several important events last year.

However, the critics were of the opinion that while they were targeting lower grade employees, the chairman has appointed several former players to choice postings on hefty salaries.

The new appointments include Saleem Altaf as chief operating officer, Miandad as director-general of cricket, Wasim Bari as director for human resources, Aamir Sohail as head of national cricket academy, Abdul Qadir as chief selector and Asif Sohail as director media.

“Yes we want to know why these positions were not advertised first before they were filled, plus how much salaries and benefits were the new appointees getting,” the senator said.

Ijaz, since taking over in October, has accused the previous chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf and his handpicked officials of creating a mess in the Board and misusing funds on luxurious spending.

The senator said the committee also wanted to know what future plans the board had in mind to counter the cancellation of international teams tour to Pakistan because of security and safety concerns. “Obviously they must have a proper plan to overcome these problems,” he added. —Agencies