The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has come under criticism for removing sports reporter Asher Butt from its official media WhatsApp group, allegedly for asking questions about a recent audit report that allegedly exposed embezzlement worth billions of rupees.

 

As per the details, senior journalist Ansar Abbasi has claimed that the removal came over Butt’s attempt to get the board’s version for his news story.

 

 

“It is shocking that our senior sports journalist Asher Butt was removed from PCB’s media WhatsApp group just because he tried to get PCB’s side on my PCB audit story,” he claimed in a post on X, going on to question if PCB treated all journalists the same way for doing their job.

 

Journalist Shahid Aslam also claimed that PCB’s incumbent media director had Butt removed from the group for asking questions about the auditor general’s report on the cricketing board’s accounts.

 

“Arrogance is never good, but journalists doing government jobs should definitely leave it at home. One’s stature is defined not by age, position or work but by character,” he said in a post on X.

 

 

While the board is yet to respond to the claims, the same come days after an audit report reportedly found financial irregularities to the tune of more than Rs6 billion and governance issues within the PCB dating back two years.

 

The Auditor General of Pakistan’s report for the 2023-24 financial year was published in The News and highlighted the non-recovery of outstanding sponsorship worth Rs5.3 billion as the major discrepancy identified.

 

The report also questioned the Rs63.39 million the PCB spent on meals for police and law enforcement personnel assigned for the security of foreign teams during international matches in Pakistan. The auditors said providing security was the responsibility of governments, and disagreed with the PCB’s explanation that visiting international teams were given extra safety guarantees that required heavy police deployment.

 

The audit report also flagged the hiring of three junior regional coaches who didn’t meet the eligibility criteria and the appointment of a media director outside the proper procedure.

 

Compensation paid to cover utility charges, fuel and accommodation for the PCB chairman between February and June of last year was also highlighted as unauthorised because the incumbent board chairperson received that as part of his government benefits.

 

The auditors rejected the board’s response that the PCB chairman “was authorised for utility expense as per bylaws”.

 

The PCB has not yet commented on the audit report either.