In a final blow to end the departmental cricket, Wapda Sports Board has diluted its cricket team and decided to send them on field duties or to leave the job, reported 24NewsHD TV channel quoting sources.  

Star cricketers Salman Butt, Asif, Wahab Riaz and Kamran Akmal will be affected by this order. 

The contract and permanent employees of the Wapda cricket team have been given two options; join field duties or go home.

The Wapda cricketers who were getting monthly stipends have also been sacked.

The Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) has issued directives to 21 permanent and contract employees and other companies will be finalizing the further course of action in the light of the directive issued by the Wapda Sports Board.

Sources said that Wapda Sports Board has issued the departmental order after all hopes diminished to continue the departmental cricket. 

The move comes after Prime Minister Imran Khan abolished the departmental setup in cricket, which resulted in thousands of cricketers losing their jobs.

In September this year, the federal government issued a notification asking all public departments, corporations and autonomous bodies to stop their funding to sports teams and instead begin diverting them to regional teams.

A copy of that letter was sent to chairmen of the Pakistan International Airlines, Islamabad, Wapda, Higher Education Commission, Railways, FBR, IGs of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and President National Bank of Pakistan.

“In a meeting on revamping of sports governance structure in Pakistan held under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Sept 1, the Honourable Prime Minister was pleased to desire to discontinue funding to the departmental sport teams of various government agencies/corporations/autonomous bodies and, instead these funds may be utilized for the promotion of regional sports teams,” the additional secretary of the Ministry for Inter-Provincial Coordination Mohsin Mushtaq Chandna has written in a letter which was received in different departments working under the government.

He further asked them to divert funding to regional teams.

“In order to implement the directions of the Honourable Prime Minister, you are therefore requested to prepare a practical transition plan to divert funding from departmental teams to regional teams, within two months, which should be implemented in a period of six months with effect from March 1, 2022,” the letter concluded.

Reporter Shehbaz Ali