CoA chief Rai told media after a meeting of the committee that it will write to the International Cricket Council and is in talks with the government on the issue. (Reuters File)The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Friday did not make any headway on deciding the future of the June 16 World Cup clash against Pakistan in England. Following a meeting of the committee, CoA chief Vinod Rai, however, said it would individually urge ICC members to “sever ties with any nation that is a terrorist hub”.
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“We are in talks with the government. No decision has been taken on the June 16 match,” Vinod Rai told reporters after the meeting.
The meeting comes in the wake of several calls for the boycott of the match against Pakistan at the Old Trafford following last week’s Pulwama terror attack, which killed more than 40 CRPF personnel. The argument to not play Pakistan has found support from former cricketers like Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh.
“We are expressing two concerns to the ICC. We will ask for more protection for players during the World Cup and we will tell cricketing nations to sever ties with any nation that is a terrorist hub,” PTI quoted Rai as saying.
Media reports on the eve of the meeting said the CoA and the BCCI might approach the ICC seeking Pakistan’s ouster from the mega event in England that starts on May 30. However, there is no provision in the ICC regulations that allow one member to seek the ouster of another.
No IPL opening ceremony
Rai also said that money allotted for the opening ceremony of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League would go to the families of the CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack. “We will not have any inaugural function for the IPL and the money budgeted for that goes to the martyrs’ families,” said Rai.
