Addressing a press conference on Monday, BCCI Secretary Amitabh Chaudhary said, BCCI was allegedly informed that boycotting any country isn’t in CCI’s domain.
BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary said on Monday that the BCCI were told by the ICC that taking such a decision wasn’t within their “domain.”
Chaudhary’s comments come after #BCCIBoycottPak trended on Twitter and the pressure to ‘isolate’ countries from which ‘terror emanates’ surfaced within members of the ICC.
Chaudhary, who along with BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, attended the ICC meetings in Dubai last week when the matter of a letter issued by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to ICC chairman Shashank Manohar was raised.
“Boycotting any country emanating terror is not in its (ICC) hands. ICC chairman stated that it’s not within domain of ICC to be able to take a decision. It has agreed to address issues related to security of players and fans,” Chaudhary said at a press conference in Mumbai.
The BCCI secretary did not raise the matter of the letter but it was Manohar who brought it up himself.
“Most countries from which the members of the ICC hail (including the United Kingdom) have strongly condemned this terrorist attack and expressed solidarity with India. BCCI urges the cricketing community to sever ties with countries from which terrorism emanates,” CEO Johri had written in a letter addressed to ICC chairman on February 22.
It is understood that CoA chairman Vinod Rai along with other two members Diana Edulji and Lt Gen. Ravi Thodge are meant to meet on March 7 to discuss ICC’s stand on this issue.
Meanwhile, ICC CEO David Richardson had reassured BCCI and other members about the security arrangements at the 2019 World Cup.
“As you would expect for a global sporting event, the ICC, in partnership with the ECB has a robust security plan in place for the Men’s Cricket World Cup. We work closely with the authorities in our host countries to ensure that the safety of players, officials and fans is a priority,” he said.
“Should those authorities raise the threat level of the event based on intelligence, we will of course uplift our security commitment as appropriate. We will continue to work with the ECB and our Members throughout the build up to and during the tournament to keep everyone abreast of the situation,” Richardson said after the ICC meeting.
Stay tuned for more updates!
