PESHAWAR: The family of late former federal minister Arbab Niaz has decided to challenge the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s decision of renaming Arbab Niaz Cricket Cricket Stadium in Peshawar.
The provincial cabinet on Friday approved renaming Peshawar’s Arbab Niaz Stadium to Imran Khan Cricket Stadium, honoring the former prime minister and World Cup winning captain’s pivotal role in shaping the nation’s sports landscape.
Talking to the media on Saturday, the former mayor of Peshawar Arbab Tariq, the son of Arbab Niaz, said that the renaming of the famous stadium was unacceptable and demanded PTI leadership withdraw its decision.
Arbab Zarak said that the Arbab Family will challenge this irrational decision in the court of law.
Earlier on Friday, the statement issued by the provincial information department stated that the provincial government approved renaming the stadium in today’s KP cabinet session.
The stadium, according to the summary, was transferred to the sports board from the municipal corporation and the provincial government undertook its development in 1986-87. The stadium was later improved and provided with facilities when the World Cup was jointly hosted by India and Pakistan in 1996.
“The stadium was used as a venue for test matches, one-day internationals, first-class matches, and inter-club competitions. Since its up-gradation, it has hosted teams from all major cricket-playing nations, including Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India and Zimbabwe, for both test and one-day internationals,” the summary read.
