Don’t ruin the Pakistan Super League

Let me give you some breaking news – Multan Sultans have not paid their fee, so PCB is terminating their contract.

This was in 2018 when a friend told me this. I contacted other sources and found that the owners were shocked by the huge annual fee. They had bought the team in a hurry for $5.2 million a year, but soon realized that it was a huge loss-making deal. So, they wanted to back off.

I contacted an official from the Multan Sultans and from their response, I understood that the news was true — although perhaps they didn’t want it published yet or wanted to give their own opinion. But I didn’t hold back and broke the story. This created a storm in cricketing 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 expire — the PCB has already issued a notice. I broke the story, and you’ve all seen what’s happened since then. The real damage from this controversy is to PSL and Pakistan cricket itself. The board also bears some responsibility — it needs to 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 looked organized — but now it’s clear it’s not. It begs the question: there are six franchises in the PSL — why is it always Multan Sultans who end up in crisis?

The main reason is the unusually high franchise fee. The combined fee of four other current franchises is roughly equal to what Multan Sultans pays alone. But then another question arises – why didn’t the Tareen family learn a lesson from Schon Properties?

This team was once considered a terrible buy 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 PKR 170.5, otherwise imagine paying the same fee now at the current rate of PKR 283! Even if one has unlimited wealth, money must 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 financial struggle story that you’ll end up feeling sorry for him. No great businessman likes to make a lost deal.

In the case of the Multan Sultans, perhaps it was ego to begin with. 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 remained somehow manageable. Earlier, Ali Tareen was in a relationship with his uncle but some issues arose and eventually he was removed from the franchise. After Alamgir’s death, Ali again became the owner.

Before the 10th edition of PSL, Ali Tareen started making statements about the league which did not go down well with the authorities. 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 worked with the Multan Sultans in the past, which added more bitterness.

These issues have hurt the PSL. Matters that should have been discussed in boardrooms began to be aired publicly.

To be fair, some of Ali Tareen’s points weren’t wrong — PSL features are indeed slow and there’s a lot of room for improvement. But as a stakeholder, he should have used the proper platform. Sometimes, even his choice of words was not appropriate.

If he had made these suggestions in board meetings, things might not have escalated to this point. By highlighting the flaws in public, it lowered the PSL’s image – especially at a time when the league’s valuation, franchise renewals, addition of two new teams and new broadcasting and sponsorship deals were underway.

You have singlehandedly underestimated the PSL 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 buzz that he could buy back the team with a lower fee during the re-bidding. But was it really necessary to create so much drama about it?

Ali Tareen says the board should have invited him for tea to talk things over – yet he mockingly tore up the legal notice.

If Najam Sethi or Zaka Ashraf were in charge, perhaps he could have withdrawn his move. But can he really push 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 has boosted his political profile ahead of the next election.

But the public’s memory is short — will they remember by then?

Look at the Indian media coverage – they have given so much attention to this controversy and used it to malign Pakistan.

If Sultan’s contract is terminated and Ali Tareen is punished, he will be presented as the savior of wronged Pakistan cricket. But the core issue remains the same – it’s all about the franchise fee.

Let’s see if 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 did not respond. He believes the PCB leaked the story through me — otherwise, no one would have known about the notice for a month.

Interestingly, a few days earlier, when I wrote about delays and defects in the PSL, a top official of the league said: “Ali Tareen had this story.”

By tearing up the announcement, Ali Tareen may have gained a following – but he’s certainly closed the door on reconciliation.

Only an extremely powerful personality could now open that door and bring him back into the fold.