 The ICC has rejected the claims of Pakistan to allow any neutral venue to host
the matches that had been previously allocated to Pakistan for the 2011 World
Cup. These 14 matches will now be shared by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Earlier this year, in the month of April, the ICC had decided not to allow
Pakistan to host its share of World Cup games for the 2011 version - to be jointly
hosted in the sub-continent - because of the growing concerns about the security
in the country. It was then recommended that the games will be shifted and shared
by the remaining three co-hosts. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) the proceeded
to take ICC to the court after a delay of a week after this decision was taken,
and the matter is still pending.
The ICC Development International (IDI), which is the commercial wing of the
ICC, has now recommended that the 2011 World Cup's Central Organising Committee
(COC), which comprises of the cricket boards of the four Asian countries need
to come out with a feasible solution regarding the hosting of these 14 matches,
and the potential venues for the same.
David Morgan, the president of the ICC, has said, "The IDI board
reaffirmed its earlier decision that matches in the tournament will not be played
in Pakistan and asked the four host countries to come together to determine
where the matches originally set to take place in Pakistan should now take place"
Previously, the PCB said that it would continue to with its legal proceedings
against the ICC to earn back its right to host the World Cup. The Pakistani
board had also suggested to the ICC an option of having the hosts for the 2015
world cup, Australia and New Zealand, host this tournament, and the four Asian
countries then host the 2015 tournament, in a hope that the situation in Pakistan
gets more stable by then. However, this offer was shot down by the other three
co-hosts, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Now, the COC will report to the IDI about the schedule and the venues for the
remaining fourteen games in the next two weeks, with Pakistan been actively
involved in the process. Both, Morgan and ICC CEO, Haroon Lorgat reiterated
that Pakistan would receive the hosting fee of US$750,000 for each of the 14
games they were supposed to host. They also said that there was no indication
from Pakistan to boycott the tournament so far.
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