30 officials boycott Afghanistan Cricket Board

In a recent turn of events, a scandal of enormous proportions has seized Afghanistan cricket. 30 officials of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) have chosen to step out and boycott the board. Reportedly, the said officials are extremely unhappy with the chairman of the ACB, Atif Mashal.

Only recently, Afghanistan, along with Ireland, has been confirmed as a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), after a unanimous vote at the ICC Full Council meeting. This move has breathed life into the country’s cricketing aspirations. According to reports, Afghanistan may as well be on course to playing their first ever test match, against Zimbabwe early next year.

ACB Officials cry foul

In an ugly turn of events, 30 ACB officials, including their Media Manager, Development Manager, Senior Advisor to the Chairman and 27 others boycotted the board and demanded Mashal’s resignation. The unhappy group cited differences with Mashal as the primary reason for their decision. Elaborating on the same, they told the media that the Chairman is a conservative person and wants to recruit and establish his own group of people in the governing body.

According to ACB Media manager, Aziz Gharwal, Mashal had previously fired some top technical officials and brought his own people into the job, who were incompetent and barely had any idea about cricket. “Mashal is using ACB as his campaign office for his own publicity and yet to work on Infrastructure plans which are must needed for ICC Full membership,” he added.

The 30 officials also claimed to have enough proof to indict the incumbent chief and expressed their willingness to hold a press conference and present the same. Gharwal further told media that the chairman had been behaving poorly with the ACB staff and mistreating them for long. He also alleged that Mashal, in an official meeting, had threatened to fire the managers if they failed to agree with his scheme of things.

Reaction from Atif Mashal

Atif Mashal recently told the media that they’re currently in Sri Lanka, to attend an ICC meeting. However, he acknowledged the presence of “political problems” and added that he’s being forced by top government officials to retain certain staff. He also went on air with the VOA Radio and said in his interview that he plans to share his concerns with his team. He also laid emphasis on the fact that the officials who’ve chosen to boycott the board will not find a way back into the ACB.