Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Information Secretary Shireen Mazari has expressed surprise at the “deliberate distortion” in the statements being cited and attributed to Ehsan Mani and in the PTI’s position on the cricketing rights to Geo TV Network.
According to Mazari, Mani has emailed PTI chief Imran Khan, informing him about the alleged distortion of his statement by Geo and Jang group.
The information secretary has pointed out that PTI’s questioning of the rights of Sri Lankan cricket series being given to Geo was based on wrongdoings that were committed in the process.
Mazari pointed out that alleged wrongdoings saying, “Pakistan Cricket Board COO Subhan Ahmad was a member of the committee deciding on who should be given the series’ rights. This man was an employee of PCB reporting directly to the chairman, who at the time was also an employee of Geo/Jang group. He provided the inside information through leaks to assist Geo in getting the bid. His presence on the committee was itself a conflict of interest and unethical.”
“Secondly, Geo never paid PCB in advance for these rights as per the agreement and yet they were allowed to air the Sri Lanka-Pakistan matches. Again this was a clear violation of the rules,” the PTI information secretary states.
Moreover, Mazari said, “Geo defaulted on its payments after the series and their bank guarantee had to be encashed to recover the dues.”
Mazari stated that PTI had been demanding an enquiry on allegations stated.
In addition, Mazari pointed out that Pakistan Television (PTV) was allegedly forbidden from bidding for the right by the Ministry of Information and the then PTV MD. She said that PTI also demanded that an enquiry be conducted as to why PTV was prevented from bidding and who was responsible for this decision.
