Following an unreasonable delay of nearly 18 months, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has finally submitted the judicial inquiry report concerning the terror attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in March 2009 to the International Cricket Council (ICC).
PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told the Dawn that the report has been sent to the ICC after the Punjab government’s approval. “The board has sent the report to the ICC about one month ago after seeking approval of the Punjab government,” Butt said.
“As the Punjab government had sent a copy of the judicial inquiry report to the PCB with the instruction to keep it confidential, first we were not in a position to forward the report to the ICC. But soon after the Punjab government allowed us, the PCB dispatched the report to the international body (ICC),” he added.
Butt, however, refused to comment on the reaction from the ICC on the 600-page report, which has been prepared by a Lahore high court judge. It is worth mentioning here that former ICC president Ehsan Mani had recently criticised the PCB for the excessive delay in submission of the report to the ICC.
Eight security guards were killed and seven Sri Lankan players were injured in the ghastly attack that took place just outside Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium.
The terrible incident not only put an abrupt end to the tour but also saw all international sports activities in Pakistan being suspended.