Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed distinguished infectious disease experts Dr Syed Faisal Mahmood and Dr Salma Muhammad Abbas as independent members of the two-person fact-finding panel that will review the bio-secure protocols breach as well as the bylaws that were put in place for the sixth edition Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Dr Syed Faisal Mahmood is an Associate Professor, Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, The Aga Khan University, while Dr Salma Muhammad Abbas is a Consultant Infectious Diseases and General Medicine with the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore.
The two member independent panel will submit its findings and recommendations to PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani by March 31.
The panel has been assigned to carry out an in-depth review regarding the COVID-19 protocols devised for PSL. Furthermore, they will also identify the reasons for how the bubble was breached.
PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani said, “The PCB takes the health and safety of its players, player support personnel and match officials seriously. We have demonstrated our duty of care in the international series against Zimbabwe and South Africa, as well as during the nine domestic events in which we successfully staged 220 matches. This included the 34-match National T20 Cup in Multan and Rawalpindi as well as the first and second elevens Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the Pakistan Cup in Karachi.
“The independent panel of two distinguished experts has been appointed with the sole purpose of an honest, constructive and objective review,” he further added.
“The independent panel will speak with all the relevant stakeholders, including the event and hotel staff, medical and compliance officers, team players and management, so that we can get a better understanding of how the cases occurred.”
On March 4, the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) was postponed abruptly due to rising COVID-19 cases among players and support staff.
