By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: The Sialkot Stallionz have been renamed the Multan Sultans, the Pakistan Super League’s chief executive, Salman Naseer, confirmed on Tuesday, restoring a name long associated with south Punjab in the country’s premier T20 competition.
Speaking at a press conference, Naseer said the change had been formally approved following a request from the franchise’s new chief executive, Gohar Shah. The move was Shah’s first act in the role.
According to Naseer, the Multan Sultans name had not been available when the team was put up for auction earlier this year, forcing Shah – who had been one of the keenest bidders for the original Multan Sultans franchise – to settle for Sialkot instead. “You saw him among the other bidders at the team auction for the Multan Sultans,” Naseer said. “There was a lot of desire, passion, and I think Gohar was the most disappointed when he couldn’t get the team.”
The PSL has always allowed successful bidders to request a name change, including names outside the initial list of six put forward in the auction process. “At the time, I think Multan was not available, so he chose Sialkot,” Naseer added. As soon as Shah took over as chief executive, he submitted the formal application, negotiating the terms, conditions and the one-time licence fee required.
Naseer also used the occasion to announce an increase in the team’s annual franchise fee, which has risen from Rs1.85bn to Rs2bn. Gohar Shah, who was present at the press conference and invited to address reporters, said he was delighted that south Punjab would once again have its own representative in the league. “We were wondering: how will a stallion defeat the HBL PSL alone?” he quipped. “A stallion needs a sultan.”
The rebrand follows OZ Developers’ winning bid of Rs1.85bn for the Sialkot franchise at the PSL auction in January – the highest sum ever paid for a team in the competition’s history. The new Multan Sultans name will now be carried into the next edition of the league, closing a brief but commercially successful chapter under the Stallionz banner.
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