How much did Alistair Campbell and Wilson Manase make from Zimbabwe's tour of Pakistan in 2015?
Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 1:36 pm
It was reported that ZC was given us$500,000.00, but us$12,500.00 was reserved for each player. For a 16-man squad that translates to a total of us$200,000.00. Where did the rest go?
Again, Pakistan made much more profit than they had initially projected, due the the huge interest and packed stadiums. Even the negative stories about "lack of takers for the TV rights, low income as well as from advertising are now thought to have been a deflection to avoid Zimbabwean players knowing just how much stood to be made. On top of the us$500,000.00 Pakistan spent on paying ZC and Zimbabwe players, an additional minimum of us$500,000.00 was set aside for security and other logistics.
Alistair Campbell is a businessman and a shady operator. No way he would have entertained any talk where the gross amounts being discussed were below us$1m, and rightfully so because it was obvious there was plenty of money to be made - not just at an individual level but at International Cricket body levels. His presence there (as then Head of Cricket Affairs) travelling with the security team that was meant to furnish him and the ZC board with a report, was also rather suspicious.
What makes it worse is that the SRC (Sports Ministry), didn't clear the tour. The international players (FICA) body also advised against it too. 40+ people died in a terror attack before the decision to tour was confirmed - even though it was in a different place geographically, plus some players expressed very strong reservations about travelling.
For me the clincher lies between Ozias Bvute bring brought back to head this delegation(since leaving ZC in 2012), and then after that the president of Pakistan sending a "Thank You" message to President Robert Mugabe.
Anyway, it's pretty clear that many here still wanted WM and AC to either have remained or brought back, but their track record has a lot of questions, much like this ICC-Pakistani deployee.
My take - AC went there personally to get his own very handsome stash for initiating the whole thing, while OB went there to get the loot for a long list of people. If I was an investigative journalist I would focus on Manase - his status prior to the Pakistan Tour and after it happened to get an idea of just how much he made, and obviously get a picture of those above him.
Why would AC risk his life so much, staying on and complete the tour even after another suicide attack near the stadium during the 2nd ODI? Even if 100 people had died in a terror attack within 3km of the stadium, I doubt the tour would have been cancelled because far too much was at stake and far too much money due to plenty people - players the pawn in all of this. Huge strings were pulled to make this happen.
Some ZC administrators who are routinely villified on this forum would have never initiated such a dangerous tour, knowing full well what was at stake, which is why this kind of thing never happened while they were in charge of ZC. It takes extreme levels of greed, depravity and wickedness to cash in potentially at the expense of the lives of innocent Zimbabwean cricekters. Clearly, Bvute came through later when things were desperate, in order to make things go ahead, but Campbell initiated this, with Manase complicit.
Nonetheless, this is yet one more example of the poor journalism around Zimbabwe Cricket - and for that fingers are pointed at Tristan Holme, Liam Brickhill and Firdose Moonda. Firdose covered this tour, but nothing after it, even though she constantly raised subtle questions. Could it be because of "editorial sanctions"? I doubt it.
NB: This is motivated by the World XI's three T20Is tour to Pakistan next month, with a squad picked by Andy Flower and includes a number of high profile South African players still actively involved in elite international cricket across formats (Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Morne Morkel, David Miller, Imran Tahir). None of the other members of the squad are relevant in international cricket except maybe Samuel Badree and Thisara Perera. Apparently the ECB and ICC are part of organising this tour though. I was also wondering why else Hashim Amla is considering leaving cricket to take up a Kolpak deal soon with one of the County sides.
Again, Pakistan made much more profit than they had initially projected, due the the huge interest and packed stadiums. Even the negative stories about "lack of takers for the TV rights, low income as well as from advertising are now thought to have been a deflection to avoid Zimbabwean players knowing just how much stood to be made. On top of the us$500,000.00 Pakistan spent on paying ZC and Zimbabwe players, an additional minimum of us$500,000.00 was set aside for security and other logistics.
Alistair Campbell is a businessman and a shady operator. No way he would have entertained any talk where the gross amounts being discussed were below us$1m, and rightfully so because it was obvious there was plenty of money to be made - not just at an individual level but at International Cricket body levels. His presence there (as then Head of Cricket Affairs) travelling with the security team that was meant to furnish him and the ZC board with a report, was also rather suspicious.
What makes it worse is that the SRC (Sports Ministry), didn't clear the tour. The international players (FICA) body also advised against it too. 40+ people died in a terror attack before the decision to tour was confirmed - even though it was in a different place geographically, plus some players expressed very strong reservations about travelling.
For me the clincher lies between Ozias Bvute bring brought back to head this delegation(since leaving ZC in 2012), and then after that the president of Pakistan sending a "Thank You" message to President Robert Mugabe.
Anyway, it's pretty clear that many here still wanted WM and AC to either have remained or brought back, but their track record has a lot of questions, much like this ICC-Pakistani deployee.
My take - AC went there personally to get his own very handsome stash for initiating the whole thing, while OB went there to get the loot for a long list of people. If I was an investigative journalist I would focus on Manase - his status prior to the Pakistan Tour and after it happened to get an idea of just how much he made, and obviously get a picture of those above him.
Why would AC risk his life so much, staying on and complete the tour even after another suicide attack near the stadium during the 2nd ODI? Even if 100 people had died in a terror attack within 3km of the stadium, I doubt the tour would have been cancelled because far too much was at stake and far too much money due to plenty people - players the pawn in all of this. Huge strings were pulled to make this happen.
Some ZC administrators who are routinely villified on this forum would have never initiated such a dangerous tour, knowing full well what was at stake, which is why this kind of thing never happened while they were in charge of ZC. It takes extreme levels of greed, depravity and wickedness to cash in potentially at the expense of the lives of innocent Zimbabwean cricekters. Clearly, Bvute came through later when things were desperate, in order to make things go ahead, but Campbell initiated this, with Manase complicit.
Nonetheless, this is yet one more example of the poor journalism around Zimbabwe Cricket - and for that fingers are pointed at Tristan Holme, Liam Brickhill and Firdose Moonda. Firdose covered this tour, but nothing after it, even though she constantly raised subtle questions. Could it be because of "editorial sanctions"? I doubt it.
NB: This is motivated by the World XI's three T20Is tour to Pakistan next month, with a squad picked by Andy Flower and includes a number of high profile South African players still actively involved in elite international cricket across formats (Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Morne Morkel, David Miller, Imran Tahir). None of the other members of the squad are relevant in international cricket except maybe Samuel Badree and Thisara Perera. Apparently the ECB and ICC are part of organising this tour though. I was also wondering why else Hashim Amla is considering leaving cricket to take up a Kolpak deal soon with one of the County sides.
