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NEWS UPDATE : Asian Cricket Third Sri Lanka-Pakistan ODI abandoned due to rain COLOMBO: The third One-day International between Sri Lanka and Pakistan was abandoned due to rain here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday. The umpires made this decision after consulting ... Australia want to master all forms of game: Clarke SYDNEY: Australia's limited-overs tour of England and Ireland represents the start of a two-year campaign to make them the top nation in all three forms of the game, captain Michael Clarke said ... Bopara glad to be back for England SOUTHAMPTON, England: Ravi Bopara is eager to make up for lost times as he tries to revive his ... South Africa name unchanged squad for England series JOHANNESBURG: South Africa have kept faith with a winning formula by naming an unchanged squad for the three-Test series in England starting next month, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on ...


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Call for Pakistan to rename its "Gaddafi Stadium"

It seems doubtful though the Libyan leader was ever much of a cricket fan.However, his downfall has left cricket-mad Pakistan with a rather sensitive problem – what to do with the Muammar Gaddafi Stadium, amid a growing online campaign to rename the 60,000 seat ground.Gaddafi Stadium is the home of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the site of the final of the 1996 World Cup for a reason: it is simply the best that Pakistan cricket has to offer," wrote columnist Farooq Tirmizi, kick-starting the campaign with a blog on a newspaper website.So why is it named after a brutal Arab dictator?All over Africa, impoverished nations have Gaddafi Conference Centres and Gaddafi Stadiums all paid for with Libyan oil money – not to mention the roads renamed in his honour.  The Lahore stadium was given its name by President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1974 after Colonel Gaddafi's speech at a meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, where he spoke in favour of Pakistan's right to develop nuclear weapons.The two countries remained close allies and Pakistan has yet to recognise Libya's new rulers.That has not stopped a growing campaign by grass roots fans to rebrand the stadium, which is home to the Pakistan Cricket Board.Online polls have suggested naming the stadium after Imran Khan, a son of Lahore who became the country's greatest all-rounder. His new career as a populist politician would probably make him too controversial a choice.Other proposals include commemorating Bob Woolmer, who died in 2007 while coach of Pakistan, or Aleem Dar, who has thrice been named ICC umpire of the year.Some nations have already begun the process of cleansing Gaddafi's name from their landmarks. In Sudan, Khartoum's Burj Alfateh hotel – named after the date of the 1969 Libyan revolution and known locally "Gaddafi's egg" - has quietly reverted to the name of its parent company, becoming the Corinthia Hotel.But so far the Pakistan Cricket Board has refused to consider the issue.Tariq Azim, a senator and keen cricket fan, said changing the name would mean turning away from historical connections."He's become a baddy now but if you go down that path we would have to change a lot of road names," he said