Harbhajan Singh alleges illegal activities by Punjab Cricket Association chief, writes letter to stakeholders

Former India cricketer and Punjab Cricket Association chief advisor Harbhajan Singh wrote a sharply written open letter to all stakeholders of the cricket organisation, accusing its president of unlawful acts in respect to new memberships. Harbhajan asked PCA members and stakeholders to come together and put an end to such illicit acts in order to maintain the state body’s credibility.

Harbhajan Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP and World Cup-winning former off-spinner, said he has received reports in the last 10 days that PCA president Gulzarinder Singh Chahal has been engaging in unlawful actions that are contrary to the spirit of cricket administration and transparency.

“For the last week or 10 days, I have been receiving numerous complaints from cricket lovers in Punjab and several stakeholders that the PCA under the present president is resorting to a lot of illegal activities, which is against transparency and the spirit of cricket administration.

“I learned that yesterday, complaints in this regard have been lodged with the Ombudsman,” Harbhajan wrote in the letter.

The core of the matter, according to Harbhajan, was the Punjab Cricket Association’s efforts to “induct roughly 150 members with voting rights to tip the balance in their favor, and these inductions are being done without the permission of the supreme council/General Body.” 

Harbhajan further said that he was not contacted about the matter, and that these actions are also in breach of the BCCI constitution, PCA standards, and transparency and ethical principles in sports administration.

“These are against the BCCI constitution, guidelines of the PCA and the violation of transparency and ethical norms in the administration of sports bodies. To hide their illegal activities, they are not organizing formal meetings of the PCA, and are taking all the decisions suo moto which serve their selfish motives,” Harbhajan claimed.

Harbhajan Singh, who had previously played for Punjab in domestic cricket, was a member of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning squad as well as the 2011 50-over World Cup-winning side.

After 103 Tests, 236 ODIs, and 28 T20s, he retired from all formats of the game in 2021.

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