The International Cricket Council has warned the Indian Board that it must abide
by its anti-racism code and act seriously on the incident of racist crowd behaviour
against Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds in Vadodara.
The BCCI has played down the incident only to irk the Australian team and the
ICC, which has sought an explanation from the Indian Board on the issue.
BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah has also conceded that
the Board has not appointed an anti-racism officer, despite it being a requirement
of the ICC for all Test-playing nations, a 'Sydney Morning Herald' report said
today.
But both Ray Mali, ICC's acting chairman, and David
Morgan, the chairman-elect, have stated in no uncertain terms that India must
fall into line with other cricketing nations and abide by the anti-racism code.
"Every member of the ICC is a signatory to that code,
and we expect everyone to follow it," Mali told a local daily here.
"If there is someone not abiding by that, then certainly
we will do something about it. As the ICC president, I strongly condemn incidents
of racism wherever they occur throughout the world. This is a serious issue,
and we need to act on it to the best of our abilities," Mali said.
Morgan, who will assume the ICC chairmanship next year, echoed
Mali's sentiments and denied the council afforded preferential treatment to
the BCCI on account of the millions of dollars it brings to the game in the
form of television rights and sponsorship deals.
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