Pakistan Cricket Board bans on-tour use of social networking websites
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has prohibited the use of all social networking websites by the players during a tour. Whether or not the players like this decision, the PCB claims that this decision is for the safety of the players.
PCB has taken this step after suffering an embarrassing situation because of runaway wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider, who used the social networking site (Facebook) to post his plans of deserting his national squad just before the fifth ODI between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755
and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033.
The team manager Intikhab Alam said that the ban on social networking websites was now a part of PCB’s new code of conduct. He said, “The measure is for the players’ safety. They’re prone to danger if the wrong person gets access to their information, whereabouts
and so on. Therefore, the PCB has finalised the policy and banned the usage of all social networking websites during ongoing tours and series, while also advising them to keep their activity minimum when they are not playing.”
Alam begs to differ with the assumptions that such a ban basically negates the rights of the players. PCB feels that giving too much freedom to the players has hurt cricket in Pakistan and now the board was left with no option but to limit the players’ activities.
This may not become a big problem for the Pakistani players because most of them are oblivious of the existence of such websites. The culture from which the Pakistani players come is totally different from Europe or any other country where the players spend
most of their time interacting with their fans through the internet.
In Pakistan, the culture of sports idols/celebrities using internet as a tool of communication is nearly nonexistent. Unlike the English and Australian players who use social networking websites, we don’t see the similar use by the Pakistani players.
PCB has also warned the owners of fake accounts made in the name of famous cricket players to delete such accounts or be prepared to face legal action. The PCB has revealed that there are many fake accounts of Pakistani players on Facebook and such accounts
will be shut down one way or the other. The Pakistani skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 has numerous fake accounts on facebook made in his name and when he was told about this fact the flamboyant hitter clarified that he doesn’t use any social networking site.
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