LAHORE – Renowned singer Ali Zafar, who lent his voice to the anthem of the first three seasons of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), faced a setback in his career since 2018 when singer Meesha Shafi accused him of harassment.
A lingering stain on Zafar’s reputation due to the allegations has presented obstacles to securing another opportunity to sing a PSL 9 anthem this year, according to the latest reports.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) initially planned to include Ali Zafar as the singer for the PSL 9 anthem. However, a high-ranking official in the league objected to this decision. The official raised concerns that associating Ali Zafar with the anthem could have negative repercussions, considering the harassment allegations from the past.
In light of these reservations, PCB reversed its decision to involve Ali Zafar in the project.
Despite starting work on three songs, only one of them has been selected for the anthem.
The complications arose when a female representative of a PSL franchise raised objections. She argued that connecting Ali Zafar to the anthem might have adverse effects, considering the previous harassment allegations.
Taking these concerns into account, the PCB decided to withdraw Ali Zafar from the project. The singer has expressed his dissatisfaction with these unforeseen events, initially seeking public opinion through a social media poll and later expressing his disappointment through two extensive posts.
Told you to wait to see why I started the poll 😎 A clear bait that they fell for using any means or tools to show their influence and power over people’s opinion. Now let me expose the rigging in the polls factually.
32,000 votes were cast from 5000 impressions, meaning 27,000… https://t.co/7A4mHNEUPR pic.twitter.com/OUb0yFqCvV— Ali Zafar (@AliZafarsays) January 12, 2024
As of now, the final decision on who will sing the PSL 9 anthem in place of Ali Zafar has not been made.
