Lahore, Feb 19 (TNS): A member of Pakistan’s blind cricket team in a video released on Monday claimed to have been deprived of prize money by the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) announced by the Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi for the team’s performance in the 2017 Blind T20 World Cup.
Idrees Saleem, the affected player, said in the video that the blind cricket team had come second place in the Blind T20 World Cup last year, after which Afridi had announced $20,000 prize money for the team. He alleged that PBCC Chairman Sultan Shah had, in an audio message, declined to distribute the prize money on the pretext of substandard performance by the blind team. The cricketer said he had taken the injustice up and spoken about it in the media, after which Shah backtracked and assured players that the PBCC would distribute the prize money among them. The team was again a runner-up in the World Cup and the PBCC held a conference in which all 19 players and officials, except me, were handed the money,” Saleem said, explaining that last year’s announced prize money had been distributed to the cricket team this year, and he had been deprived of his share of the reward. When I contacted PBCC Chairman Sultan Shah, he asked me to approach the media in order to receive my share of the money,” Saleem said. Saleem, a father of three with a Master’s degree in Education, and B1 category player appealed to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Najam Sethi to take notice of the issue. PBCC Chairman Sultan Shah, in his response to the video today, confirmed that Saleem was not given any share of the prize money announced last year. He said that the player was not rewarded because of his attitude towards discipline.
