On Tuesday, the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Dispute Panel dismissed the financial claim made by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It is believed that PCB had sought damages from the Indian cricket board to the tune of USD 70 million for not honouring the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two boards in 2014 to play bilateral series. However, the ICC announced the outcome on behalf of the Dispute Panel, after a three-day hearing.
The case of dispute arose when PCB had filed an official complaint complaint with ICC lst year about the “massive losses incurred’.
Regarding this matter, BCCI CEO- Rahul Johri led India’s fightback.
Notably, BCCI’s ace in this dispute turned out to be in the form of former cabinet minister Salman Khurshid’s deposition. Apparently, Salman Khurshid was part of the UPA government when the two neighbouring countries had stopped all cricket between each other owing to cross-border friction and it is on the advise of the government that that the BCCI chose not to participate in any bilateral cricket with Pakistan.
The ICC said in a media release, “On behalf of the Dispute Panel formed under the Terms of Reference of the ICC Disputes Resolutions Committee (DRC), the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the outcome of the recent DRC proceedings between the BCCI and the PCB.”
The statement further added, “Following a three-day hearing and having considered detailed oral and written submissions, the Dispute Panel has dismissed the PCB’s claim against the BCCI. The judgement, which can be found here in full, is binding and non-appealable.”
Whereas, PCB’s recently appointed chairman Ehsan Mani had said that both the cricket boards will have to accept ICC’s decision on the matter, and had pointed out that if he would’ve been at the helm of the affairs in the ICC, he would’ve tried to resolve the matter through negotiations.
Two weeks ago, Eshan had commented, “Yes, the case is in ICC and both the countries have to accept its decision. Unfortunately, it has never happened in the history of the ICC that two cricket boards are fighting a case against each other. Had I been at the helm at the time of filing the case, I would have preferred to resolve the matter through negotiation.”
Former BCCI president Anurag Thakur had opined in September this year, that undue importance is being given to the case filed against the BCCI by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for refusing to play any bilateral cricket with Pakistan despite signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which guarantees six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. He also said, “I believe that undue importance is given to the matter. No Indian representative should even have put their case forward in the issue.”
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