Multan Sultans makes history by appointing the PSL’s first woman general manager

Multan Sultans makes history by appointing the PSL’s first woman general manager!

Multan Sultan on Tuesday announced Hijab Zahid’s entry into the franchise in an Instagram post, saying,“We are delighted to introduce a significant milestone in the world of cricket management. We proudly announce Ms. Hijab Zahid as the newly appointed General Manager of Multan Sultans, marking a historic moment as the first female General Manager in the history of any Pakistan Super League franchise.”

Hijab Zahid, 28, has been a journalist. She replaces Haider Azhar as GM.

Zahid has a master’s degree in Project Management from the University of Hertfordshire and has previously served as media manager for Islamabad United.

 

Multan Sultans owner Ali Tareen in a statement shared on X-platform said, “We at the @MultanSultans are privileged to have @hijaaaaabas our new GM. A fantastic professional with a Masters in Project Management, who brings with her a wealth of experience. A trailblazer, Hijab is in fact South Asia’s first woman GM in men’s cricket. First of many IA!”

 

Ali Tareen, who co-owned the Multan Sultans team alongside his uncle Alamgir Tareen until 2021, has now taken full control of the team after Alamgir Tareen’s death in July.

Ali told ESPNcricinfo that Hijab Zahid was “the most qualified general manager among all PSL sides”.

“It’s a lot harder to assert authority as a woman,” Hijab Zahid told the publication. “It’s culturally harder for men to take directions from a woman. We have people in this industry who haven’t interacted with women in their lives through no fault of their own, especially in this power dynamic.”

“So I expect we’ll have a lot of conversations and workshops about having a woman in a management role here. While people are used to having women in such positions in the corporate world in Pakistan, that is less true of the sporting world. In the future, we want to train people as analysts, presenters, and media managers. It will open doors for a lot of women.”