The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to rename Muammar Gaddafi Stadium, a popular cricket ground in Lahore.
About 50 years ago, the square was named after former Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi.
An official of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed the news to the media on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Rameez Raja, chairman of the country’s board, told the international website “Span Kirk Info” that the reason for this was not political, but commercial.
He said he had been in talks with a number of financial backers and that a company had finally won the concession and wanted to change the name of the field as well.
Mr. Raja has named the company YouGov.
He said that not only the name of Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore would be changed, but also the names of stadiums in Karachi and some other areas.
According to ESPN, the Lahore Cricket Ground was built in 1959 and was originally called Lahore Stadium.
But during a visit to Pakistan in 1972, Muammar Gaddafi spoke of Pakistan’s political interests and said that it was Pakistan’s right to have nuclear weapons. At that time, Pakistan did not have an atomic bomb.
Following the revelations, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto named the Lahore Cricket Ground after him. Of course, there are places in Pakistan named after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia and some other politicians.
Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s leader for nearly 40 years, was killed in an uprising in 2011. After his death, some authorities in Pakistan demanded that the Lahore Stadium be renamed after him, but at the time, the motive was political.
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