Karachi likely to host remainder of PSL due to financial dispute between PCB and local Punjab government

Following a financial disagreement between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the temporary Punjab government, the PSL may be entirely relocated to Karachi according to a report by ESPN Cricinfo. Following a meeting with all franchise owners that will be facilitated in the afternoon, a decision will be reached.

Change in government

The disagreement is over how to divide the costs of hosting the tournament's security, with the PCB reportedly being asked to pay PKR 450 million to host the tournament in Lahore and Rawalpindi by the temporary Punjab government. The government's expenses for holding the matches in Multan are also included in this sum.

The PCB, on the other hand, had a deal to pay only PKR 50 million to the former administration, which was overthrown in the final week of January, and the board has honoured that payment.

A PCB official claims that the Sindh government just demands payment for catering to the security personnel and does not demand that the PCB contribute to the expenditures associated with security. Its expense is estimated to be around PKR 30 million.

Refusal to pay for security

According to reports, the PCB is also willing to contribute to the cost of catering in Punjab, but they are hesitant to pay for security because they believe the local government should be in charge of that.

A PCB official argued that the financial burden of the security charges would be too great given that the government has previously covered the security costs for staging cricket in the province. There is a general understanding that the franchise owners would also be expected to contribute financially if the PCB were obliged to pay that amount. In that case, moving the entire tournament to Karachi would be less expensive for the parties involved.

However, there may not always be agreement between the PCB and the franchise owners. A franchise owner who spoke with ESPNcricinfo opposed any schedule modification, arguing that it was improper for the PCB to include the franchise owners in a dispute between it and the Punjab government.