Muammar Gaddafi was many things to many people during his brutal 42-year rule: self-styled brotherly leader to the Libyan people, dictator and madman in a golf buggy.
It seems doubtful though the Libyan leader was ever much of a cricket fan.
However, his downfall has left cricket-mad Pakistan with a rather sensitive problem – what to do with the Muammar Gaddafi Stadium, amid a growing online campaign to rename the 60,000 seat ground.
"Gaddafi Stadium is the home of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the site of the final of the 1996 World Cup for a reason: it is simply the best that Pakistan cricket has to offer," wrote columnist Farooq Tirmizi, kick-starting the campaign with a blog on a newspaper website.
"So why is it named after a brutal Arab dictator?"
All over Africa, impoverished nations have Gaddafi Conference Centres and Gaddafi Stadiums all paid for with Libyan oil money – not to mention the roads renamed in his honour.
The Lahore stadium was given its name by President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1974 after Colonel Gaddafi’s speech at a meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, where he spoke in favour of Pakistan’s right to develop nuclear weapons.
The two countries remained close allies and Pakistan has yet to recognise Libya’s new rulers.
That has not stopped a growing campaign by grass roots fans to rebrand the stadium, which is home to the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Online polls have suggested naming the stadium after Imran Khan, a son of Lahore who became the country’s greatest all-rounder. His new career as a populist politician would probably make him too controversial a choice.
Other proposals include commemorating Bob Woolmer, who died in 2007 while coach of Pakistan, or Aleem Dar, who has thrice been named ICC umpire of the year.
Some nations have already begun the process of cleansing Gaddafi’s name from their landmarks. In Sudan, Khartoum’s Burj Alfateh hotel – named after the date of the 1969 Libyan revolution and known locally "Gaddafi’s egg" - has quietly reverted to the name of its parent company, becoming the Corinthia Hotel.
But so far the Pakistan Cricket Board has refused to consider the issue.
Tariq Azim, a senator and keen cricket fan, said changing the name would mean turning away from historical connections.
"He’s become a baddy now but if you go down that path we would have to change a lot of road names," he said.
Telegraph
