http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board lets go of national cricket team security manager Major Khawaja Najam
The Pakistan national team boarded a plane to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 without their team security manager Major (retd.) Khawaja Najam, who has been let go by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
A source in the PCB said, “Due to the recent spate of controversies about involvement of players in spot-fixing and the Zulqarnain Haider episode, the PCB had already decided not to send Najam to New Zealand with the team."
It has been learnt that Najam was apparently not happy with the PCB upon knowing that he would not be touring New Zealand with the team because the PCB didn't bother to send his passport or documents for visa processing.
According to sources, the former security manager called up the Chairman PCB http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 and told him that he could no longer perform his duties if he was not to be sent to New Zealand. The chairman then didn’t hesitate to take Najam’s
resignation. The PCB had been unsatisfied by Najam’s performance in England and in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033, because in England the PCB had to face the embarrassment of three players accused of spot-fixing, while in the UAE the former wicketkeeper Zulqarnain
Haider deserted the national side by slipping away from the team hotel and then resurfacing in London.
In these incidents, Najam failed in keeping an eye on the players since it was his duty as security manager to make sure that the players didn’t get themselves involved in illegal and corrupt practices.
Team manager Intikhab Alam was also critical of Najam’s role and didn’t give him any good reports which helped the PCB in making its decision regarding the security manager.
Najam was embedded by the PCB to keep a check on the on and off-field activities of the players of the national squad while being on a tour. After the spot-fixing fiasco in England, the PCB took major steps in revamping its code
of conduct and introduced new stricter laws against players involved in match-fixing.
Keeping a security manager with the team is mandatory according to the new code of conduct and it is interesting to see that the team has left for New Zealand without one, which is a serious violation of PCB’s own code of conduct.
Whether a new security in charge will be sent later to join the team or not remains a mystery because the PCB has not released any information regarding the appointment of a new security manager.
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