No threat to BCCI’s financial muscle, clarifies International Cricket Council

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) and BCCI office-bearers’ meeting with the International Cricket Council’s Strategic Working Group (SWG) focused mainly on how to get other boards to increase the revenue and contribute to the ICC coffers while not sipping into Indian board’s revenue.

cricket Updated: May 17, 2018 19:09 IST

The Indian cricket board had been worried that the International Cricket Council’s Strategic Working Group (SWG) SWOT analyses could lead to insistence on the BCCI giving up more of its share to fund ICC and therefore other countries.(HT Photo)

The BCCI’s fear of giving up a sizeable chunk of its share to fund the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been allayed by the international body’s Strategic Working Group (SWG) in a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) and BCCI office-bearers’ meeting with the SWG focused mainly on how to get other boards to increase the revenue and contribute to the International Cricket Council (ICC) coffers while not sipping into BCCI’s revenue.

The meeting was held after SWG had put forward a SWOT analysis, enunciating 72 points for discussion --- 18 each of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The primary among these was whether ICC is too dependent on BCCI due to it providing the maximum revenue.

The BCCI had been worried that these analyses could lead to insistence on BCCI giving up more of its share to fund ICC and therefore other countries. However, an official privy to the happenings said that those worries subsided once the Indian board was told that by reducing reliance on BCCI, the ICC meant it wants other boards to increase their share of revenues while not touching BCCI revenues. “The SWG’s concern was about other boards’ failure to do enough and bleed ICC,” said the official.

Still, BCCI officials expressed concern with the ‘wording’ of the presentation and have relayed that to the ICC who have promised to change it. The SWG will give a presentation to every board and the Indian board was their first stop. CoA head Vinod Rai was present along with the BCCI office-bearers called to the meeting by him, acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and acting treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary. Acting president CK Khanna however failed to attend.

While discussing the issue of the Champions Trophy tournament, to be hosted by India, being turned into a T20 tournament and some BCCI office-bearers’ opposition to it, the Indian board was told that the decision was taken by all boards including the BCCI and the agreement has signature of Choudhary.