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Pakistan president suspends cricket board

Pakistan's president has suspended the nation's cricket board, a month after Pakistan lost the World Cup final amid allegations of indiscipline by players.

"President Rafiq Tarar yesterday suspended the management of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and appointed an ad hoc committee, headed by Mujibur Rehman, with Javed Zaman to perform functions of the board until further orders,'' state media said.

Pakistan lost the final of the World Cup by eight wickets, to Australia on June 20. The lopsided result brought accusations of indiscipline against Pakistani players as well as allegations of match-fixing from fans and local media.

Pakistan cricketers are awaiting a report of an official inquiry into match-fixing allegations. No date has been set for the release of the much-delayed report.

Pakistan's state APP news agency said Tarar, patron of the PCB, took the action under the board's constitution.

Rehman is the younger brother of Saifur Rehman, head of prime minister Nawaz Sharif's accountability bureau, which is looking into allegations that Pakistan deliberately lost the World Cup final.

The suspension also covers the selection committee.

PCB chairman Khalid Mahmood took charge in February last year and still had 17 months left in his term.

It was the second time this decade the board was suspended. It had been suspended in January 1994.

The report did not say why Tarar took the action, but Zaman said there had been worries about the discipline of the Pakistan players during the World Cup.

''There had been reports of players' indiscipline during the World Cup in England. The management didn't try to put a halt to the growing incidents of indiscipline; it tried to sweep the misbehaviour under the carpet,'' Zaman was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper today.

''We will thoroughly investigate and might even question the manager.''

Zaman said the ad hoc committee would seek advice from the government on whether Pakistan should play India in Toronto in September and in a tri-nation series in Australia early next year.

''Pakistan wants to honour all its international cricket commitments but several statements from the other side of the border are in a bad taste,'' he said.

Several Indian players have said India and Pakistan should not play during the rival neighbours' current standoff in Jammu and Kashmir.

UNI