World Cup dispute settled

The Pakistan Cricket Board has resolved its dispute with the International Cricket Council over hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup, settling for financial compensation at a meeting in Dubai today.

In April this year, the ICC relocated the country’s share of 14 matches due to security concerns after the Sri Lanka team was attacked in Lahore.

The matches were redistributed between co-hosts India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and the World Cup headquarters was moved from Lahore to Mumbai in India.

The PCB retaliated by launching legal action against the ICC and won a stay order against moving the tournament headquarters out of Pakistan.

The ICC then persuaded the PCB to keep legal action on hold until a settlement could be negotiated out of court, but talks broke down and the PCB threatened to revive their legal battle.

Following another round of talks in July, the PCB agreed to reach a compromise through negotiations and in May withdrew their legal challenge.

Following a final round of talks between PCB chairman Ijaz Butt and ICC president David Morgan in Dubai today, the dispute was finally resolved.

In an agreement with the commercial arm of the ICC, the PCB will retain its host fees and will also receive an additional payment as compensation for loss of hosting rights.

It was further agreed that the PCB would be free of its liabilities and obligations associated with hosting matches during the tournament, including the location of the World Cup secretariat.

“This resolution is good for world cricket and provides an improved platform for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 as we now have a degree of certainty surrounding the event that was not there while the dispute was ongoing,” Morgan said.

“I am glad we were able to come to an amicable agreement and I believe this is a fair resolution for the PCB and the ICC.”

Butt, who had faced much flak at home over the PCB’s decision to settle out of court, said he was content with the agreement.

“The PCB is content with the settlement that has been reached,” he said. “We are able to see this dispute from the other side.

“We realise also the logistical and administrative difficulties that would be associated with organising our matches in the other three co-host countries.

“Our number-one priority is that cricket in Pakistan must not be allowed to suffer unduly and I believe this agreement is the best possible outcome for the game.”