Broadsheet reiterates threat, responds to PCB statement

WASHINGTON: Broadsheet LLC has reiterated its claim that it intends to enforce action against Pakistan's national cricket team.

In another letter issued on Tuesday, the company said that it has not received any response from Islamabad after the letter sent on 24th July. "In the absence of any response, we reiterate our view that the Pakistani Cricket Board (PCB) is a state organ and thus its assets, and those of the state, are one and the same."

The letter further stated that it was a matter of fact that the "Government of Pakistan is ultimate owner of the Pakistani Cricket Board, and that the Board forms part of the Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination. The government exercises direct control over the Board, including by virtue of its right to amend its constitution at its sole discretion, and for the Pakistani Prime Minister (as Patron) to appoint Board members."

An apparent rebuttal to Pakistan Cricket Board's response to Broadsheet's threat, the letter said that "the Board itself controls the Pakistan National Team, with one of its constitutional objects being the financing and arranging of visits and tours abroad. The government of Pakistan thus exercises such a degree of control over the Pakistani Cricket Board that the two are entirely intertwined."

The letter argued that state organs are, at law, equated with the state itself. This includes for the purposes of enforcement. "In light of all of the above, and your failure to provide any response whatsoever or to counter the position that we have set out, we write to confirm our intention to proceed with our instruction to professional bailiffs to seize the assets of the Pakistani National Team," the letter concluded further stating that the state of Pakistan and the NAB have been given fair warning of the company's intention to proceed.

Earlier, the company had informed Pakistan that since it has failed to pay the award money it owes; it has sought court orders instructing professional bailiffs "to seize the assets of the Pakistani cricket team" touring the UK these days.