The Pakistan cricket team is covered by a bubble during their tour of England by the novel coronavirus, but on the traveling side there is a different kind of risk. A UK based firm, Broadsheet LLC, has been threatening to seize the Pakistan cricket team’s properties over its $33 million dispute with the government.
According to a report on a leading sports website, Broadsheet had won an arbitration case against the state of Pakistan and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that also gave them court orders ‘to seize the assets of the national cricket team in Pakistan.’ The business could unleash the action soon, with the likes of Babar Azam, Azhar Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed and others in the UK for the tour.
Broadsheet has sent a letter to the lawyer for Pakistan, Allen & Overy, alleging that Pakistan and NAB have refused to pay more than $33 million they owe them. It has also been confirmed that Allen & Overy has also stopped responding to the UK business for the past few months.
“Currently in the UK, the Pakistan cricket team is training for a test series against England,” Broadsheet LLC said in the letter. “We find that the team is, by its very nature, the defendant’s wealth and that the defendant’s contributions to the case are monies owing to the plaintiff’s plaintiff and contributions.”
Broadsheet has not only threatened to seize the Pakistan team’s assets, but also the High Commission building in Pakistan and the London High Commissioner ‘s House, as well as the New York Roosevelt Hotel.
The relationship dates back to the year 2000, when Pakistan employed Broadsheet to investigate some charges of corruption against government officials, including the Nawaz Sharif family.
Pakistan Tour Of England:
Currently the entire Pakistan team is in Derby where they are training for the forthcoming Test series against England. The first Test between the two teams will commence on August 05 at Manchester’s Old Trafford Cricket Ground.
According to the bio-secure guidelines currently in effect by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), none of Pakistan’s cricket team leaders will be permitted to communicate with others outside of the bubble. In such a situation, it remains to be seen how the act of ‘seizing assets’ will even become feasible.
