BCCI rules out legal action against ICC, says 'cricket is priority'
New Delhi: After the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed India's participation in the forthcoming Champions Trophy, senior BCCI official Rajiv Shukla on Sunday said that the Board is not taking any legal action against the International Cricket Council (ICC) over its revised financial model as cricket is their priority. The BCCI, after its Special General Meeting (SGM) in the national capital earlier today, ended the speculations surrounding India's participation in the upcoming Champions Trophy and said that it has been unanimously decided that the Men in Blue will play the 50-over pinnacle event, beginning June 1 in England and Wales. The board unanimously also authorized acting BCCI Secretary Amitabh Choudhary to continue negotiations with the ICC in the best interest of the country's cricket board while keeping its legal options open. The All-India Senior Selection Meeting will now be held tomorrow, May 8, in New Delhi to pick the team for the Champions Trophy. Shukla said that they have given full freedom to acting BCCI Secretary Amitabh Choudhary to continue negotiation with the ICC on financial terms without any bounding. He further added that they are not engaging in any war with the world cricket's governing body and just trying to find the solution with discussions. "We have given him full freedom, full authorization, no bounding. He can go and negotiate with the ICC. Both revenue and governance model are our concern. Soon we will go to the ICC review its decision and to listen our point of view. There is no resistance. Everybody was of the view that there should not be war with the ICC," Shukla told reporters here. "Cricket is our priority. Game must go on. We will ask the ICC to increase our revenue. We will also discuss about the governance model, issues related to our rights. We are not sending any legal notice to the ICC. There is no war with the ICC. We will get to the solution through discussion," he added. Earlier this month, the BCCI had lost both the governance and the revenue votes at the crucial ICC meet after cricket's Full Members exercised their collective will to outvote the Indian cricket board. The ICC had also approved a new financial model after its meet in Dubai, under which the BCCI will receive 293 million dollars from 2016 to 2023. Previously, the board was drawing an amount of 570 million dollars due to its ' Big Three' formula. The remaining seven Full Members will receive 132 million dollars each. The Associate Members will receive a funding of 280 million dollars. This model was passed by a vote of 13 to 1. Subsequently, the BCCI had deliberately missed the April 25 deadline for submission of the squad and that there were speculations that they might pull out of the tournament. On Friday, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), in a strongly worded statement, ordered the BCCI to refrain from taking any decision that might harm the interests of Indian cricket. —ANI
