The PCB should form a permanent PSL management team that continues to function smoothly regardless of board changes
Lahore Qalandars celebrate with the PSL trophy after winning the 10th edition earlier this year. PHOTO: PSL
Let me give you some breaking news — Multan Sultans haven’t paid their fee, so the PCB is terminating their contract.
This was back in 2018 when a friend told me this. I reached out to other sources and found out that the owners had been shocked by the huge annual fee. They had bought the team in a rush for $5.2 million a year, but soon realized it was a massive loss-making deal. So, they wanted to back out.
I contacted an official from Multan Sultans, and from their response, I could tell the news was true — though perhaps they didn’t want it published yet, or wanted to give it their own spin. But I didn’t hold back and broke the story. That created a storm in cricket circles. Soon after, the board issued a press release announcing the termination of the contract.
Later, a new party bought the team, and things seemed to return to normal.
Now, once again, my sources tell me that Multan Sultans’ contract is about to end — PCB has already issued a notice. I broke the story, and you’ve all seen what’s happened since. The real damage from this dispute is to the PSL and Pakistan cricket itself. The board also bears some responsibility — it must make serious efforts to turn the PSL into a bigger brand and address the flaws that have become apparent.
The PCB should form a permanent PSL management team that continues to function smoothly regardless of board changes.
At first, this fight seemed staged — but now it’s clear that it’s not. The question arises: there are six franchises in the PSL — why is it always Multan Sultans that ends up in crisis?
The main reason is their unusually high franchise fee. The combined fee of four other current franchises equals roughly what Multan Sultans alone pays. But then another question arises — why didn’t the Tareen family learn a lesson from Schon Properties?
That team was once considered a terrible purchase at $5.2 million, so how did they end up buying it for $6.35 million?
It was only thanks to former PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja, who had locked the dollar rate at 170.5 PKR, otherwise imagine paying the same fee now at the current 283 PKR rate! Even if one has unlimited wealth, money must still be spent wisely.
If you have a billionaire friend, try asking him to lend you a few hundred thousand rupees — he’ll tell you such a tale of financial struggle that you’ll end up feeling sorry for him. No big businessman likes to make a losing deal.
In Multan Sultans’ case, perhaps it was ego at the beginning. There were rumors that another party — possibly a rival — wanted to buy the team, so they decided to get it at any cost. Later, they realized it was a bad shot.
As long as Alamgir Tareen was alive, things somehow stayed manageable. Earlier, Ali Tareen was involved with his uncle, but some issues arose and he eventually distanced from the franchise . After Alamgir’s passing, Ali became the owner again.
Before the 10th edition of the PSL, Ali Tareen began making statements about the league that the authorities didn’t like. What started in podcasts escalated to tweets. His relationship with CEO Salman Naseer didn’t seem pleasant either. Salman also hired an official who had previously worked with Multan Sultans, which added more bitterness.
These issues have harmed the PSL. Matters that should’ve been discussed in conference rooms started being aired in public.
To be fair, some of Ali Tareen’s points weren’t wrong — PSL operations are indeed slow, and there’s a lot of room for improvement. But as a stakeholder, he should’ve used the proper platform. Sometimes, even his choice of words was not appropriate.
If he had made those suggestions in board meetings, things might not have escalated this far. By highlighting flaws publicly, he has diminished the PSL’s image — especially at a time when the league’s valuation, franchise renewals, addition of two new teams, and new broadcast and sponsorship deals were in progress.
You’ve devalued the PSL yourself and almost brought it down to the level of the Bangladesh and Sri Lankan leagues.
The board, on the other hand, claims that Ali Tareen’s aim was to create such a fuss so he could buy back the team at a lower fee during re-bidding. But was it really necessary to create so much drama for that?
Ali Tareen says the board should’ve invited him for tea to discuss things — yet he mockingly tore up the legal notice.
Had Najam Sethi or Zaka Ashraf been in charge, perhaps he could’ve pulled off his move. But can he really pressure someone like Mohsin Naqvi, arguably the second most powerful man in the country?
Some people say that Ali Tareen gained more fame from this controversy than he ever did from owning a PSL team. His video has already been watched by millions, and it’s boosted his political profile ahead of the next election.
But the public’s memory is short — will they even remember this by then?
Look at the Indian media coverage — they’ve given so much attention to this dispute and used it to discredit Pakistan.
If the Sultan’s contract is terminated and Ali Tareen gets banned, he’ll present himself as a savior of Pakistan cricket who was wronged. But the core issue remains the same — it’s all about the franchise fee.
Let’s see whether this fight escalates or influential political figures step in to broker peace.
I also tried to contact Ali Tareen to get his perspective beyond the videos and tweets, but he didn’t respond. He believes the PCB leaked the story through me — otherwise, no one would’ve known about the notice for a month.
Interestingly, a few days earlier when I wrote about delays and flaws in the PSL, one top league official told, “Ali Tareen had that story planted.”
By tearing up the notice, Ali Tareen may have gained followers — but he’s certainly closed the doors of reconciliation.
Only an extremely influential personality might now be able to break that door open and bring him back into the fold.
