The state of cricketing affairs in Pakistan was already in disarray, with the men’s national team struggling to secure positive results on international cricket. And now, the losses that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) incurred by hosting the ICC Champions Trophy, have reportedly burnt a big hole in the board’s pocket. The PCB is said to have incurred a mind-boggling loss of USD 85 million (INR 869 crore) by hosting the Champions Trophy, a tournament in which they played just one game at home.
Pakistan suffered a defeat in their opening Group A match of the Champions Trophy against New Zealand in Lahore before travelling to Dubai where they faced India. Their third and final group match against Bangladesh was washed out without a ball being bowled. Due to the defeats against New Zealand and India, Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament, hence ending the campaign with just one home game.
As per a report in the Telegraph India, Pakistan had spent about PKR 18 billion (about $58 million) to upgrade their three Champions Trophy venues -Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi. The cost of upgradation turned out to be 50 percent more than the anticipated budget.
Later, the Pakistan Cricket Board also reportedly spent USD 40 million on event preparations. In return, however, their earnings were literally in pennies. PCB is said to have only received USD 6 million in return as part of the hosting fee. When it comes to ticket sales and sponsorships, the earnings were negligible.
The report, hence concluded that the PCB suffered a loss of about USD 85 million by hosting the ICC Champions Trophy. The aftereffects of such a loss were seen some of the board’s subsequent plans.
The management decided to reduce the match fees for the national T20 championship by 90 per cent while reducing the reserve player payments by 87.5 percent.
As per Pakistan’s Dawn, “The PCB had recently reduced match fees from Rs 40,000 to Rs 10,000 without any official announcement…however PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi intervened, rejecting the decision and directing the board’s domestic cricket department to reassess the matter.”
Even 5-star accommodations for players were swapped with economy hotels.
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