The International Cricket Council will debate Pakistan's future as a World Cup host later this week after talks failed between South Asian co-hosts for the 2011 event. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said it will resume legal proceedings against the sport's governing body following a lack of agreement with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on where Pakistan should host its matches.
The matter will come up for discusssion when the ICC holds its annual meetings here from June 22-26, but a final resolution could still be months away. "The President (David Morgan) will report following recent discussions concerning the issues the Pakistan Cricket Board has in relation to the hosting of matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011," an ICC spokesman said.
The ICC has ruled out matches in violence-hit Pakistan in the wake of the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore on March 3 while it was on its way to the Gadaffi stadium to resume a Test match. Pakistan were willing to consider shifting its share of 14 matches to the United Arab Emirates where it hosted a one-day series against Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in April-May.
But the three other co-hosts want all matches to be played in the sub-continent with each nation dividing Pakistan's 14 matches among themselves, sources told AFP.
"We want to accommodate Pakistan as much as we can, but it will be good if it remains a South Asian World Cup," a top official from one of the host countries said. The ICC has ruled that while matches will not be held in Pakistan, it retains its co-hosting rights for the showpiece event schedule to be held in February-March 2011.
In an ICC-brokered deal, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh agreed to forego hosting fees for the 14 extra matches that were originally due to be held in Pakistan. It means Pakistan will still get a hosting fee of 750,000 dollars per match from the ICC - a total of 10.5 million dollars for the 14 games - irrespective of where they are held.
Pakistan's cricket chief Ijaz Butt said he was disappointed that the other co-hosts had not agreed to neutral venues for Pakistan's matches and resuming legal proceedings was the only option left to him.
"The PCB sought the support of its fellow Asian co-hosts for matches to be played under the aegis of the PCB in a safe neutral venue," Butt said after a meeting of the four co-hosts here on Saturday. "Despite the fact that these discussions had been helpfully and constructively brokered by the ICC president David Morgan of England and vice- president Sharad Pawar of India, no progress was made.
"This will mean that organisational issues surrounding the 2011 World Cup remain unresolved and that the legal proceedings the PCB has brought against the ICC in Dubai and in Lahore will continue." Pakistan had earlier put legal action on hold to give the ICC time to mediate an agreement. The ICC has already ruled out switching the 2011 World Cup to Australia and New Zealand, the designated hosts of the 2015 event.