PCB urged to rename Gaddafi Stadium

MUMBAI: Cricket fans from across Pakistan and the whole world are urging the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to rename Gaddafi Stadium on either former captain Imran Khan, ICC Elite Panel Umpire Aleem Dar, or former coach late Bob Woolmer.

There is no confirmation whether the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi was ever much of a cricket fan.
And his death has left cricket-mad Pakistan with a rather sensitive problem – what to do with the stadium named after him as Gaddafi Stadium, amid a growing online campaign to rename the 60,000 seat ground. There has been a growing campaign by several fans to rename the stadium, which is home to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
There was no two-minute-silence observed before the commencement of the fourth day’s play at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, where the Test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was played.
“If we had to mourn for Gadaffi’s death, the instructions have had to come either from the Pakistan government or the PCB and there was no such request”, confirmed Colonel Naushad Ali, the Pakistan team manager, exclusively to The Sports Encounter from Abu Dhabi.
Online polls in Pakistan have suggested the names of Imran Khan, Bob Woolmer and Aleem Dar.
“The stadium was originally called the Lahore Stadium until 1974, when it was renamed in honour of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi following a speech he gave at an Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in favor of Pakistan’s right to pursue nuclear weapons”, India’s renowned statistician, Mohandas Menon told The Sports Encounter.
“Although the ground does not hold any world records as such, New Zealand’s Peter Petherick claimed a hat-trick on his Test debut in October 1976. Incidentally it is the largest field hockey stadium in world with the capacity of 60,000 spectators. It hosted the 1990 Hockey World Cup Final”, Menon added.
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“It also hosted the 1996 cricket World Cup Final, which was watched by over 40,000 spectators”.
“Many of the grounds in England (namely The Oval) and also many in New Zealand and South Africa have got their names changed quite regularly. However these changes are for sponsorship purposes, that keeps on changing every season”, Menon said, adding, “however this will be the first instance if a cricket stadium named after a person is changed (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore)”, he stated.