Ali Tareen, owner of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans, has announced that he is giving up the team’s ownership after a long-running dispute with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

He said he no longer wished to run the franchise in a “stifling environment”, as disagreements with the PSL administration and other team owners came to the fore.

According to the cricket website ESPNcricinfo, Tareen made the announcement on X on Tuesday in an emotional message addressed to fans.

In his statement, he said he was formally parting ways with the Multan Sultans.

“I would rather lose while standing tall than run a team crawling on my knees in a suffocating environment,” he said.

Despite financial losses, he added, he had never considered abandoning the franchise because the Sultans meant “much more than numbers”.

The announcement came after five other PSL franchises confirmed the renewal of their ownership rights.

The PSL has already approved expanding to eight teams for its 11th edition, requiring two new owners — but Tareen’s exit now means a third team will also need a new buyer.

Tensions between Tareen and the PSL administration had escalated over the past year.

The PCB issued Tareen a legal notice and demanded a public apology after Tareen accused the officials of lacking transparency and vision.

Tareen responded with a satirical video tearing up the notice.

Following this, he was sidelined from discussions on the next PSL season and became the only franchise owner who did not receive an offer to renew ownership rights.

Last week, he claimed that messages sent by the Sultans to the PCB chairman and PSL management went unanswered, and that legal action was being considered.

Sources said the PCB sent Tareen another email this week, instructing him to delete all posts critical of the PSL and its management and issue an apology, indicating continued friction between the parties.

The Multan Sultans were originally launched under the ownership of the Schon Group in 2018, which withdrew a year later.

The franchise was then taken over by Alamgir Tareen — Ali Tareen’s uncle — under whom the team won the 2020 PSL title and reached four consecutive finals. After Alamgir Tareen’s passing in 2022, Ali Tareen became the sole owner.

In his message, Tareen said: “This team does not belong to its owner alone — it belongs to all of you and represents South Punjab. Whoever the new owner may be, continue to support the Sultans with the same passion. I will be right there in the stands.”