ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday vowed to make the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans 'profitable' before auctioning it next year.
The franchise is set to be run by the cricket board in the upcoming 11th edition of the marquee league after its owner, Ali Tareen, announced in November last year that he would not be extending the ownership contract, citing repeated financial losses as the primary reason behind the decision.
"Despite the financial losses year after year, I never once thought about walking away. The Sultans have always meant more to me than just numbers," Tareen had said in a statement on social media, before confirming that he would not renew the contract of the 2021 PSL champions.
The development came when the PSL was set for a highly-anticipated expansion with the addition of two new franchises, which were acquired by FKS Group and OZ Developers for a whopping Rs1.75billion and Rs1.85billion respectively at the star-studded auction, held here at the Jinnah Convention Centre earlier today.
Following the successful event, PCB Chairman Naqvi, alongside new team owners Fawad Sarwar and Hamza Majeed, and PSL CEO Salman Naseer, addressed the media and reiterated that the cricket board will run the affairs of Sultan in the upcoming PSL 11 before auctioning it.
He acknowledged receiving suggestions about auctioning the franchise alongside the two new teams sold earlier today, but revealed he took a challenge for himself and his team to prove the business as profitable.
"I took a challenge, and that is that there were a lot of claims on social media that the team was in losses. So I, and all of the team, decided that we will show you how much profit this business offers, publish the numbers before going for the auction," Naqvi stated.
"The pressure has started to be built up on me to sell out the team," he said humorously, while referring to Naseer.
"But my wish is to operate Multan Sultans for one year, and I'm very much hopeful that we would leave it in profit so the world gets to know that it's a plus-plus business."
