PSL final: PCB invites dignitaries, former cricketers

In a bid to attract more crowds at Ghaddafi Stadium where Pakistan Super League (PSL) final is going to be played on March 5, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sent invitation cards to senior government ministers, officials and former cricketers on Friday. Chairman PSL Najam Sethi had announced on Wednesday that PCB is trying to introduce a new culture of buying tickets by not issuing free tickets or complementary passes for the final of the PSL.
All the match tickets on sale online or through designated branches of the Bank of Punjab have been sold, informed sources revealed to this correspondent. The PCB officials said that there was a lot of pressure on them to give away free tickets but the PSL administration has taken a firm stand that there will be no free tickets for the final. However, no official knew whether the invitation cards sent to government ministers and officials are free passes. Najam Sethi extended an invitation to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief Ministers and former cricketers for the PSL final in Lahore.
A PCB official, when contacted to comment on the situation, confirmed that high dignitaries and eligible cricketers would get their invitations by Saturday. "We received the invitation cards on Thursday morning and these are now being dispatched to all the invitees including cricketers and other VVIPs and they will get it by Saturday," the official said.
The PSL second edition final is being held in Lahore on Sunday. The ticket prices are: Rs 12,000, Rs 8,000, Rs 4,000 and Rs 500, and given the seating capacity of the stadium of around 25,000 the total that could be earned comes to around Rs 180 million. In the past, Gaddafi Stadium, even when packed to capacity, has generated just around Rs 10 million from a match.
Another PCB official toldBusiness Recorder that the Board had reduced the number of tickets sold to the corporate sector and put more tickets on sale for the public. "We are ending previous practice of issuing complementary passes and anyone who wants to see the final must buy a ticket irrespective of his status," the official said.
The federal and Punjab governments in this regard had said that they are supporting the decision of the PSL management that the practice of giving free tickets must end. The Prime Minister has endorsed this decision and stated that neither his ministers nor he himself need free tickets. Similar messages were received from the Punjab government and GHQ.
The Punjab government has also decided to provide shuttle service to the ticket-holders and off-load them in front of their respective enclosures after picking them up from the car parking stand.