ICC warning to PCB: Play India or risk lawsuit and massive revenue loss | Cricket News – The Times of India
NEW DELHI: The ICC has cautioned the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that it could face legal action from T20 World Cup official broadcasters JioStar over its decision to boycott the February 15 match against India, a PCB source revealed on Tuesday.Pakistan opted to skip the Colombo fixture following directives from its government, though the PCB has yet to formally communicate its reasons to the ICC.
As earlier reported by PTI, the ICC could potentially withhold Pakistan’s entire annual revenue share — estimated at around USD 35 million — and divert that amount towards compensating the broadcasters.According to PCB sources, chairman Mohsin Naqvi had consulted the board’s legal team before briefing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week, but officials are now preparing for serious repercussions.“If Pakistan doesn’t relent and play against India, not only will they face financial penalties, perhaps a lawsuit from broadcasters but also any efforts to go to the ICC Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) are likely to fail,” a PCB source told PTI.The ICC’s DRC is an internal panel that does not entertain appeals against decisions taken by its own board.“The PCB might face problems regardless of their government directive to not play India as they are playing all their matches at a neutral venue (Sri Lanka) as per their wishes and not in India,” another PCB source said.“Secondly, while the Indian government has not given permission to its team to play in Pakistan, it has not stopped them from playing against Pakistan at neutral venues in Asia Cup or ICC events even after the May conflict,” the board source, who closely tracks Naqvi, added.While the PCB is yet to send a written communication to the ICC, the boycott is being viewed as an act of solidarity with Bangladesh following their ouster.Explaining the contractual obligations, a source said, “When the ICC signed its four year deal with the broadcaster for all ICC events, the contract included Pakistan and India matches based on which the broadcaster made the payments to the ICC.”“So the broadcaster will be within its rights to take the PCB and ICC to court over a major breach of the contract.”Will Naqvi make U-turn after Bangladesh elections?There is speculation that Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan’s interior minister, could reverse the decision once Bangladesh holds general elections on February 12 and a democratic government replaces the current administration led by Mohammed Yunus.“Naqvi more than a cricket administrator is a politician, who is not one bit bothered about the welfare of the national team. He is trying to score a brownie point with his and could well flip once elections are held on February 12.“There would still be two days before the India game and things could just change. Else he knows that Pakistan could be ostracised,” another source monitoring Pakistan cricket said.