LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that it will provide financial help to cricketers, match officials, and ground staff facing hardship amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a press release issued today (Sunday), the PCB will provide Rs 25,000 to first-class cricketers, Rs 15,000 to match officials, and Rs 10,000 to scorers and ground staff who fulfill the conditions set by the body.
The cricket board also assured the privacy of the applicants. The statement said, “The PCB has assured the identities will be treated in strict confidence and the PCB will not make any announcement in relation to who and how many benefitted from this one-time scheme.”
In this regard, PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani said,“The PCB feels it has a duty of care towards its stakeholders and, as such, it is imperative that we stand by our people during the lockdown period and support them in the lead up to Eid Al-Fitr. It was the right time to support cricketers, match officials, scorers, and grounds staff in this hour of need.”
He further said, “It is also heartening to see our cricketers coming out and supporting the people in need by auctioning their prized possessions and through various charities.”
“While I am sure many players are making donations in private, I want to applaud and appreciate Shahid Afridi, Rumman Raees, and Azhar Ali who have been at the forefront of this noble cause and have been doing outstanding work,” he concluded.
This is the PCB’s latest initiative to contribute in these challenging times after it had earlier contributed more than Rs 10million in the Prime Minister’s Covid-19 Pandemic Relief Fund.
Earlier in March, the PCB turned Karachi’s Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre into a sanctuary for the paramedic staff, working at a makeshift hospital at Expo Centre.