In a shocking development, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has reportedly turned down the proposal of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to sever ties with Pakistan. In the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, BCCI had requested the ICC and other nations to sever ties with nations that harbour terrorists.
The ICC clarified that it has limited role to play in this kind of matters and as such, it won’t be possible for them to take BCCI’s request forward. The decision of ICC comes after BCCI had sent a letter to the governing body of world cricket requesting it to “sever ties with countries from which terrorism emanates“. Although Pakistan was not mentioned in the letter, it is believed that it was aimed at the neighbouring country.
In the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel, there were widespread calls for boycotting Pakistan in the upcoming 2019 ICC World Cup. Pakistan based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility of the attack.
Although BCCI’s request of boycotting Pakistan has been turned down, the hypocrisy of the ICC cannot escape the eyes of the world. It may be mentioned that cricketing bodies all over the world backed by the ICC put a blanket ban on cricketing ties with South Africa in the 70s and 80s. These were the times when South Africa was facing boycott all over the world because of its racial segregation policies. The ban was not lifted until South Africa decided to lift the apartheid policy and call for elections paving way for a democracy.
In light of this, it can be called that the ICC is running away from a serious matter, i.e. terrorism, which has gripped the whole world killing thousands and destroying the lives of many. Terrorism is as grave a concern (if not more) as apartheid.
BCCI cannot escape the scanner too. The world’s richest cricketing body has been reluctant so far to take any firm step as far playing Pakistan is concerned. It has not used its leverage to put pressure on ICC to ban the terror nation from international cricket. ICC generates money from tournaments like Cricket World Cup, Champions Trophy etc. The majority (more than 80 percent) of the income of these tournaments comes from India. But the country gets very little (around 20 percent) in return when the organization distributes income to its members. As per the revenue sharing agreement of ICC for 2015-23, India will get only 22.8 percent (405 million dollars) in return despite the fact that it is expected to contribute almost 80 percent. “They (India) are contributing towards 80 per cent of the money and they’re taking about 20 per cent for hiring their team for the ICC.” said Cricket Australia Chairman Wally Edwards.
Therefore, the revenue generated from India not only bankrolls ICC but also goes to other 106 members of the organization including Pakistan. As per the analysis of ICC’s revenue, all other full-time members except India contribute 0.1 percent to 5 percent in the total earnings of the organization. The next two big contributors after India are England and Australia. The contribution of Pakistan to the total revenues of the organization could be somewhere between 1-3 percent.
BCCI, in fact, had been reluctant to even mention Pakistan in its letter sent to ICC regarding banning the terrorist country. “Most countries from which the members of the ICC hail (including United Kingdom) have strongly condemned this terrorist attack and expressed solidarity with India. BCCI urges the cricketing community to sever ties with countries from which terrorism emanates,” wrote BCCI to ICC without naming Pakistan.
It is noteworthy that CoA chief Vinod Rai had said in February that the sporting community “needs to ostracise Pakistan” just like South Africa was banned from the international cricket community due to the country’s policy on apartheid. However, Rai’s comments and BCCI’s letter now looks not more than just lip service as there was growing pressure on the BCCI from the public.
It is high time the BCCI pulled the plug on ICC and force it to take action against Pakistan. It won’t be far fetched if it is said that the Indian cricket body has the power of bringing the cricketing world to its knees, of bankrupting the ICC and almost every other cricketing board in the world. But the question is does it have the will? The BCCI, in fact, needs to boycott and take strict action against Pakistan in response to the Pulwama terror attack rather than accepting the status quo.