KOHLI & CO’S PARTICIPATION IN CHAMPIONS TROPHY IN DOUBT
he Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) opposition to a rollback of the controversial ‘Big Three’ revenue and administrative model is dominating the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting, which commenced in Dubai on Monday.
The outcome of the meeting will be announced when the meeting concludes today, but according to media reports, BCCI has made it clear it will not settle for anything less than $570 million (Dh2.09 billion) — the same revenue it would have received from the ICC under the original Big Three model.
The Big Three model that was approved in 2014 gives India the lion’s share of the revenues and a big say in governance along with the Australian and England cricket boards. However, recently, the ICC has sought to overturn those changes.
The BCCI has even delayed the announcement of their team for the Champions Trophy to be held in England and Wales from June 1 with the possibility of even pulling out of the tournament if their demands are not met. A source at the ICC told Gulf News: “The deadline for submission of squads to the ICC is April 25 midnight Dubai time. Whether the teams want to announce their squads is their prerogative.”
Discussions
Following discussions between ICC chairman Shashank Manohar and the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (CoA), Manohar had offered to pay an additional $100 million to the BCCI, taking the board’s share to nearly $400 million.
A senior BCCI official in Dubai has been quoted by media confirming the offer and saying: “ICC chairman Shashank Manohar gave us an offer of an additional $100 million in the new financial model. In fact, he gave us a deadline to get back to him. From our end, we won’t get back to him as we don’t even consider it an offer.”
New constitution
In February, the ICC passed a new constitution in principle which, if ratified, could undo much of the imbalance in power and finances of the Big Three model. The BCCI’s member units through a special general meeting in Delhi last week passed a unanimous resolution to ask the ICC Board to retain the ‘Big Three’ revenue model until its annual general meeting in London in June.
India, which generates the major share of revenues for international matches wants ICC to carry on with the existing model where Australia, England and India get the lion’s share of revenue or accept a new model that they will present during the London meeting.
When Amitabh Choudhary, the acting BCCI secretary who is representing India in the ICC meeting, was asked whether India will pull out of the Champions Trophy, he said: “Only poets and philosophers can answer that question.”
BCCI’s move to delay naming the squad is backed by the Members Participation Agreement (MPA) that gives any cricket board the right to pull out of the tournament in case of disagreement.