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Muhammad Ishaq Bhatti of Rizvi Group Thursday swept to victory to become the new president of the Islamabad Cricket Association (ICA) in elections held at the KRL Ground.

According to unofficial results, Bhatti polled 20 votes to beat his presidential rival Khawaja Muhammad Mustafa by five votes.

Irfan Manzur, also of Rizvi Group, was elected the secretary after a 19-14 win against Muhammad Yousuf while Hasan Asghar claimed the treasurer's slot with a 21-14 victory against Hanif Sajid.

The results of the elections, which were fair and peaceful, were not officially declared after the Lahore High Court (Rawalpindi Bench) on a writ filed by Muhammad Yousuf had directed the Pakistan Cricket Board to withhold the results.

Yousuf in his writ had prayed that the elections should not be allowed to go ahead and that the Ministry of Sports be directed to hold the polls.

The elections were conducted by the PCB election committee comprising Brig (Retd) Khawaja Muhammad Nasir, Brig (Retd) Iqbal Awan and the Board's legal consultant Shahzad Farooq.

The committee had earlier conducted scrutiny of the clubs following which 36 clubs were granted the right to vote and in Thursday's elections only National club abstained from voting.

The clubs that exercised their right to vote were I-9, King's Gymkhana, Federal Gymkhana, Nurpur, Imran Memorial, Diamond, Asif Memorial, Muslim, Classic, Azam, All-Youngsters, Mehran, Al- Muslim, Young Capital, Youngsters, Majid Memorial, Hasan Memorial, Al-Fateh, Millat, XI Star, Punjab, Rawal Town, Evan, Islamabad Hawks, Essco, Prince, Najam Memorial, CRA (Community Centre), Shalimar, Shaheen, Ismail, Islamabad Gymkhana, Potohar Gymkhana, Services and Lucky Star.

Meanwhile, a beaming Bhatti said that his first priority would be to establish a stadium of international standard in Islamabad. "I'll leave no stone unturned to raise money for the project," the new president told Dawn.

He said that victimisation of players would now end and everyone would be given a fair chance to prove himself. "To promote cricket here, we have to move ahead hand-in-hand with our rivals."

Cricket in Islamabad is currently being run by an ad hoc committee headed by Mansoor Ahmed. The body will continue to look after the affairs in the region until the matter is settled by the court.

© Dawn