The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has come up with a clear-cut code of ethics which could have affected several employees. The step was taken as a result of increased scrutiny on multiple roles held by various stakeholders which might become the cause of the potential conflicts of interest in those roles. This might also affect head of the women’s wing, Urooj Mumtaz Khan, head coach and chief selector of the men’s senior team, Misbah-ul-Haq and legendary speedster Wasim Akram who is a member of the cricket committee.
However, this code extends beyond the roles within PCB including all those officials who are involved in any business activity outside of the board, either directly or through any of their family members. Moreover, all employees have to share these details with the board under the new code. And then the board will take a call based on the information provided.
The PCB could appoint their ethics officers Salman Naseer (who is the board COO) and Areeba Khalil (from the PCB’s legal department) to conduct further investigation on this matter.
Urooz Mumtaz Khan, the head of Pakistan women’s cricket currently holds three roles within PCB. Along with being the head, she is the chief selector of the women’s team and also has a place on the board’s cricket committee. But it was her commentary stint during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) which raised many eyebrows.
This is not new though as Ramiz Raja and Aamer Sohail have also faced the same for their stint with the commentary. Since Ehsan Mani took over the responsibility as PCB chairman in September 2018, he has opened up about the importance of forming a uniform policy to deal with the serious issue of conflict of interest. Although there was a limited version of the code since the beginning, it was applied mostly for the Board of Governors.
The new 27-page ethics code covers every single official within the PCB and PSL, be it for a contractual basis or full-time employment. Each official is bound to comply with this code ‘whether or not he is asked to sign such acknowledgement and whether or not he signs the acknowledgement if asked’. Under the new code, all employees will have to submit a declaration form to the ethics officers. Upon which it will be assessed whether the information comes under the conflict of interest or not.
