No More 5-Star Hotels, Match Fee Cut As PCB Suffers Rs 869 Crore Loss In Champions Trophy

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is facing a major financial crisis after suffering a staggering loss of USD 85 million (INR 869 crore) while hosting the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The board reportedly saw an 85% loss on its investment, despite making heavy financial commitments to upgrade cricket venues and organize the tournament.

A Costly Tournament with Little Return

Pakistan spent approximately PKR 18 billion (USD 58 million) on upgrading its three main venues—Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi—but the costs ended up being 50% higher than originally planned. Additionally, USD 40 million was spent on event preparations. However, in return, PCB only received USD 6 million as a hosting fee, with minimal earnings from ticket sales and sponsorships.

Pakistan’s Short-lived Campaign

Adding to their woes, the Pakistan team played only one match on home soil—a loss against New Zealand in Lahore. Their second match against India was held in Dubai, and the third match against Bangladesh was abandoned due to rain. With two losses and no wins, Pakistan was eliminated early from the tournament.

Drastic Cost-Cutting Measures

As a result of this financial setback, the PCB has taken severe cost-cutting measures:

Match fees for the National T20 Championship were reduced by 90% (from PKR 40,000 to PKR 10,000).

Payments for reserve players were cut by 87.5%.

Players were moved from five-star hotels to economy accommodations.

A report in Dawn suggested that the PCB attempted to enforce these cuts quietly, but PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi intervened and directed a reassessment of the decision.

With Pakistan cricket already struggling on the field, this financial crisis has only added to the board’s challenges.

News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.