The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to rename the historic Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the stadium will be named after the sponsor.
According to Cricinfo, after Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the names of other sports fields of the country including National Stadium in Karachi will also be changed.
The historic stadium in Lahore was named Gaddafi Stadium 50 years ago during the visit of then-Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi to Pakistan.
There have been several attempts in the past to change the name of the stadium on political grounds, but this time the decision to change the name has been made on purely financial grounds.
PCB chairman Rameez Raja said he had hired Yugo to find out the price of his stadium as well as the price of the sponsorship deal, not only Gaddafi Stadium but also the National Stadium and other stadiums. Will also be changed.
“We have been working on this for a long time and the response from the sponsors has been satisfactory,” he said. Gaddafi will be replaced by a guarantor once the agreement is reached.
The stadium, originally named Lahore Stadium, was built in 1959, but during Muammar Gaddafi’s visit to Pakistan in 1974, he supported Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program at the Islamic Summit Conference.
On the initiative of Colonel Gaddafi, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto named the stadium after him.
When the former Libyan president was removed from power, some quarters suggested to Pakistan to change the name of the stadium but then the issue was suppressed.
The decision is being sharply criticized on social media by Pakistani cricket fans. How do you view this decision of PCB? Share your views on Pakistan Cricket Forums:
Pakistan.web.pk/forums/cricket/
