Ali Tareen, owner of Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans, has issued a sarcastic “apology” after receiving a legal notice from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
His response was contrite but barbed, criticizing the league’s stewardship even as it acknowledged the board’s grievances over alleged violations of the 10-year franchise agreement.
According to the notice, the PCB accuses Tareen of violating multiple clauses of the PSL franchise contract and demands a public apology as well as a retraction of his critical comments.
It warned that failure to comply could lead to termination of Multan Sultans’ contract and Tareen could be blacklisted from the league, an ultimatum that significantly raised the stakes of the dispute.
Posting a video on his
Tareen started by outlining the PCB’s ultimatum before questioning the board’s conflict approach. He expressed frustration with the lack of direct communication, stating that he never received “one phone call, message, email or invitation asking us to meet and resolve these issues together.”
“Instead I got a legal notice,” he said. “If you were more competent, you would know that these cases are not handled this way.” He accused the management of being surrounded by “yes men” and unable to accept criticism, claiming that the league “belongs to the fans and to the whole of Pakistan, and not to the handful of people currently running it.”
While stating that his legal team saw no need for an apology, Tareen offered one “because I want the PSL to improve.” However, his apology served to reiterate all his previous complaints.
He apologized for expressing frustration when he noticed problems and for his critical comments about what he perceived as a lack of professionalism.
He apologized for “criticism of the opening ceremony” and sarcastically praised the “great” act of having “national stars… lip-sync.” He admitted that the desire for the ceremony to “start on time and end on time and that the microphone would work properly” went “too far.”
He addressed minor grievances noted in the announcement, offering a heartfelt apology for being “10 minutes late” for a Zoom meeting and for claiming the “PSL would not be buggy,” while sarcastically noting the flawless logistics that left “half your team in one hotel and the other half in another hotel.”
Tareen struck a conciliatory tone amid all the sarcasm and suggested a simple solution: “Call me up, offer me a cup of tea and some cookies, and let’s sit down and talk.” He suggested they could agree to end public criticism and work together to improve the competition.
The video ended with Tareen tearing up the legal notice, a final act of defiance after his ‘apology’. He ended his statement with, “So I hope you like my apology video.”
