Icc Braced For Financial Hit If Pakistan V India World T20 Game Off As Talks Go To The Wire

The Pakistan v India T20 World Cup fixture remains successful uncertainty connected nan eve of nan tourney pinch International Cricket Council sources telling nan Guardian they expect nan conflict to spell down to nan ligament earlier their scheduled gathering successful Colombo adjacent weekend.

Intensive negotiations are continuing down nan scenes aft nan Pakistan authorities triggered a situation past play by announcing their nationalist squad would not return nan section against India connected 15 February – a boycott that could costs nan ICC a immense rebate successful a fixture worthy astir $500m (£367m) successful media rights.

Pakistan’s boycott is simply a consequence to nan ICC’s expulsion of Bangladesh, who were thrown retired of nan tourney aft refusing to recreation to India, who are co-hosting nan 20-team title pinch Sri Lanka.

The ICC has not commented since issuing a connection past play which urged nan Pakistan Cricket Board to reconsider owed to nan “long-term implications for cricket successful its ain state and nan effect connected nan world cricket ecosystem,” and they will statesman nan tourney arsenic planned against nan Netherlands tomorrow.

Pakistan will automatically forfeit nan points from nan lucifer if they neglect to move up successful Colombo, arsenic good arsenic taking a awesome deed connected nett run-rate which could find qualification from nan group, while nan ICC would besides enforce further sanctions specified arsenic a ample good and imaginable further points conclusion if nan boycott goes ahead.

The ICC has yet to statesman general disciplinary action however, arsenic it focuses connected persuading Pakistan to relent, pinch lawman chair Imran Khwaja and Mubashir Usmani of nan Emirates Cricket Board successful nonstop discussions pinch nan PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi.

The ICC chair, Jay Shah, has truthful acold stayed retired of nan talks fixed his caller past arsenic caput of nan Board of Control for Cricket successful India, and adjacent links to a authorities successful which his begetter Amit is nan long-serving location minister.

The conflict could person awesome financial ramifications for each of cricket, arsenic nan ICC’s $3bn Indian media authorities woody pinch JioStar is mostly predicated connected India facing Pakistan each twelvemonth successful a world tournament, meaning each 1 is worthy astir $500m. A cancellation of adjacent week’s fixture would breach nan statement and time off nan ICC liable for a rebate.

A root pinch knowledge of nan woody disclosed that India-Pakistan matches correspond astir two-thirds of nan worth of nan four-year JioStar deal, which expires adjacent twelvemonth and is improbable to beryllium extended connected nan aforesaid position fixed existent relations among nan Asian countries.

Any simplification successful nan worth of nan ICC’s media rights, aliases a rebate from nan existent deal, would person awesome ramifications for smaller Test nations specified arsenic West Indies and New Zealand, arsenic good arsenic Pakistan, arsenic astir 70% of their full gross is understood to travel from nan ICC.