Dubai: The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) had filed a compensation claim against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) before the International Cricket Council (ICC) Disputes Resolution Committee for India’s refusal to play Pakistan in bilateral series. The ICC dispute panel on Tuesday dismissed PCB’s compensation case against BCCI.
“On behalf of the Dispute Panel formed under the Terms of Reference of the ICC Disputes Resolutions Committee (DRC), the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the outcome of the recent DRC proceedings between the BCCI and the PCB
“Following a three-day hearing and having considered detailed oral and written submissions, the Dispute Panel has dismissed the PCB’s claim against the BCCI. The judgement is binding and non-appealable,” ICC press release stated
Pakistan had claimed Rs 447 crore compensation following allegations that the BCCI didn’t honour a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that required India to play six bilateral series between 2015 to 2023.
India and Pakistan play only at multi-nation tournaments organised by the ICC or the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). Most recently the arch-rivals played at the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The last bilateral series the two cricketing giants played was a short limited-overs series in 2012-13 in India.
The BCCI, on its part, maintained that the alleged MoU was not binding and did not stand as Pakistan failed to honour a commitment to support the revenue model suggested by India for the ICC.
The Indian cricket board also said that bilateral cricket with Pakistan was subject to government clearance, which has not been forthcoming since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
“We are happy that our stand has been vindicated. What PCB termed as Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was just a proposal letter,” CoA chief Vinod Rai told news agency PTI.
“I would like to thank the BCCI legal team as well as everyone who worked on this arbitration,” Rai said.
Rai said BCCI will now file a counter compensation case against the PCB to demand the cost of arbitration.
“We will make a presentation to the panel and demand entire cost of compensation to be borne by PCB for the arbitration where their claims have been dismissed,” he added.
The ICC’s three-member dispute resolution committee was formed last year to look into the PCB’s compensation claim. The hearing took place at the world body’s headquarters here from October 1-3.
The issue goes back to 2014 when the erstwhile BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel signed a one-page document which BCCI always termed as the “proposal letter” to play six bilateral series between 2015 to 2023 on home-and-away basis.
The first of the proposed series was planned in November 2015 in the UAE but BCCI didn’t get permission from the government which is mandatory for any bilateral cricketing engagement with Pakistan.
The PCB went on to claim compensation for losing out on TV revenue for that particular series.
India’s former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid was among those who cross-examined during the dispute panel hearing. According to a senior BCCI official, he justified India’s refusal to play bilateral cricket with Pakistan, citing security concerns.
Rai thanked Khurshid for his deposition during the hearing.
“Mr Khurshid and Sundar Raman’s deposition in the arbitration made our case stronger,” he said.
Raman was the COO of the Indian Premier League.
