The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board is meeting on Tuesday (June 1) to decide, among other things, India’s readiness to host T20 World Cup in October-November.
“The ICC Board will meet on Saturday to discuss various issues. One of the points of discussion would be the T20 World Cup,” confirmed an ICC official.
The final decision could, however, be taken on July 18 at the ICC annual conference. The T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held in India in October-November. However, rise in Covid-19 cases in recent times has led to doubts over whether the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would be able to host the tournament.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which will host remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has been kept as a standby venue for T20 World Cup too. The BCCI is expected to seek time from the ICC and hope that the Covid situation in India would improve soon.
An ICC recce team, which was supposed to visit India during the IPL, cancelled its visit following rise in Covid-19 cases. That also pushed ICC to keep the UAE as a standby venue.
The other issue that BCCI is facing currently is tax waiver that ICC gets for its global events. It is understood that while BCCI is in discussion with the top government functionaries, there are no easy solutions.
IF BCCI can’t arrange the tax waiver from the government, it will have to forego ICC revenue to the tune of $125 million (INR 905 crore approx).
“In this post pandemic world and a hostile economic climate which is pretty hostile, the Indian government providing a tax relief close to Rs 1000 crore for a cricket event seems like wishful thinking,” the source informed news agency PTI.
“But then if BCCI can pull it off, good for them. In any case, we are not likely to give up on our hosting rights even if it is held in the UAE,” the BCCI source added.
(with agency inputs)
