Karachi: Pakistan's federal minister for information Fawad Chaudhry said that Pak's television channels will not be able to broadcast the live telecast of England vs Pakistan ODI and T20 series.
Chaudhry said that the decision has been taken as the rights to broadcast the match are with an Indian company and Pakistan "cannot conduct business with any Indian company" due to the passage of Article 370 in India's parliament. “Indian companies hold the rights to broadcast [matches] in South Asia... and we cannot conduct business with any Indian company,” Chaudhry was quoted by Geo News.
Pakistan will be traveling to England in July 2021 to play three ODIs and three T20Is. The broadcasting rights for this series for South Asia are with Sony Pictures Nework India (SPN) and thus, Pakistan won't be buying the rights from SPN courtesy to it being an Indian company.
The first ODI will be played at Cardiff on July 8 while the T20I series starts from July 16 in Nottngham.
India abolished the controversial Article 370 in both houses of the Indian patrliament on Augut 8 2019. This divided the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two different Union Territories. Pakistan government took a decision to not to any business with India untill the "order is restored" in Kashmir.
The developement came after Pakistan Television (PTV) asked for permission to crack a deal between Sony Pictures and Star, but it was denied by the Pakistan's cabinet. "The cabinet has rejected the request of PTV to sign an agreement with Star and Sony to air the England-Pakistan cricket series," the minister for information said.