The president of the PCB, Mohin Naqvi, announced that the redevelopment of the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore is “in its final stages”. During a press conference held in the ground itself, Naqvi welcomed all the people involved in the construction of the stadium, saying that it had been completed in record time.
“The Gaddafi stadium will be inaugurated on February 7 by the Prime Minister [Shehbaz Sharif]”Said Naqvi. It will certainly be completed on February 7. We started to demolish this stadium in September, with the construction starting in October. We have promised that it would be ready by the end of January, and you can all see how close it is to completion. “”
“We are also organizing a ceremony on February 16 in Lahore. We invited the heads of all the boards of directors who come, as well as all the CPI officials, including the president of the ICC, Jay Shah. The managers of the board of directors and any other person present. “
The PCB has faced a meticulous examination in recent months concerning the physical form of its stadiums to welcome the tournament. With the renovation and reconstruction work on the sites left in the last months, there were concerns about whether the PCB would manage to bring its stages to a state of preparation in time for the tournament. The PCB had initially set a deadline of January 25 to make all the development of the Gaddafi stadium was completed, before moving it forward until February 2.
Naqvi targeted those who had raised doubts. “On the other side of the border [a reference to India]There are many people who try to find the slightest flaw in our stadiums and arrangements, and they will not have such an opportunity. We will welcome all the arriving teams and their safety and welcome arrangements. The entire PCB works day and night to offer a transparent tournament. “”
Naqvi, who has not excused the rate of expenditure at the PCB since he supposed the message, also offered a first overview of the potential financial report that the work on the stadiums had taken, announcing that the PCB had sold the tickets which were allocated to him by the ICC returns to the board of directors to contribute to the control of the development costs of its land.
The Champions Trophy, which is expected to start on February 19, is the first ICC tournament that Pakistan will welcome since 1996.
