Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has taken notice of the humiliating treatment meted out to legendary Pakistani pacer, Shoaib Akhtar, by Dr. Noman Niaz during a live broadcast on state television.
In this regard, the Information Minister has also formed a high-level committee to investigate the incident that took place on a state broadcast following Pakistan’s victory against New Zealand last night.
According to details, Managing Director (MD) Pakistan Television (PTV) Aamer Manzoor will head the committee. Chief Human Resource Officer, Director News, Director Sports, and Director Programs will also be a part of the committee.
The Information Minister has summoned the inaugural meeting of the committee later today. The committee will analyze both on-air and off-air footage of the show and will determine why the heated argument between Shoaib and Dr. Noman occurred in the first place.
It will also summon Shoaib and Dr. Noman separately to hear their sides of the story. After ascertaining the reason and culprit behind the verbal spat, the committee will submit its findings to the Information Minister at the earliest.
In case the committee identifies Dr. Noman as the wrongdoer, the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting will initiate disciplinary action against him.
PTV News’ official Twitter handle has also confirmed the development. In a Tweet, the PTV News penned that the PTV administration has taken notice of the incident that took place between Shoaib and the host of PTV Sports’ program Game On Hai, Dr. Noman.
What Actually Happened?
Shoaib Akhtar and Dr. Noman Niaz got into an on-air verbal spat during the post-match discussion where panelists, including legends like Sir. Vivian Richards and David Gower were discussing Pakistan’s 5-wicket win over New Zealand in the 2021 T20 World Cup last night.
It all started when Shoaib took a few jibes at Dr. Noman while sharing his thoughts about the match. Dr. Noman did not condone Shoaib’s digs at him, calling him rude and asking to leave the show. He immediately took a break after this.
To save everyone from embarrassment, Shoaib clarified that he was only messing around the host with a mutual understanding and suggested Dr. Noman politely apologize for calling him rude and asking him to leave.
However, Dr. Noman refused to apologize to Shoaib, forcing the latter to quit PTV Sports on-air.
Source: Pro Pakistani