BCCI vetoes ICC revenue rollback plan, Champions Trophy boycott an option
The BCCI Special General Meeting decided to oppose the International Cricket Council’s plans to roll back the Big Three revenue model of 2014 giving India, England and Australia the lion’s share of global cricketing revenues.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday decided to exercise its rights at the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting at the month end to safeguard the 2014 ICC revenue and governance model.
The Big Three plan of 2014 guarantees BCCI the lion’s share of global revenues and gives it a big say in administration alongside the England and Australia boards in the 2015-2023 cycle.
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In a two-hour Special General Meeting (SGM) held here and attended by top Board officials -- acting president CK Khanna, joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry as well as BCCI CEO Rahul Johri --- the members decided to oppose ICC’s new constitution that seeks to reduce India’s share in revenue and power.
‘Breach of contract’
“The officials at the meeting agreed that ICC is breaching the contract. It was suggested at the SGM that BCCI had been honouring bilateral commitments on Future Tours Programme (FTP) over the past two years only on account of the 2014 revenue and governance model that gave the Big Three sweeping powers. If ICC changes it now, it will be breaching the contract and stabbing BCCI in the back,” said a source privy to the meeting. “The board hasn’t played Pakistan only due to politicial reasons; otherwise it has gone according to the FTP.
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“BCCI reserves its rights to take all necessary decisions to exercise the rights under the Members Participation Agreement (MPA).”
Champions Trophy boycott
It means India can exercise the option of pulling out of the Champions Trophy, starting in England on June 1, as well as take legal recourse if ICC doesn’t rescind its plans to roll back the Big Three proposals.
The SCM also felt the biggest obstacle in BCCI’s path is ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, who is pushing for a more equitable distribution of revenues and power among all the national boards.
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“The Board officials agreed they will fight tooth and nail to protect BCCI’s interests. They believe Manohar hadn’t given the true picture to the Board members last year when he pressed for a change in the revenue model,” added the source.
Already, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are said to have shown interest in backing India. The BCCI seems to be on a strong wicket as it needs only 1/3rd of members to say yes.
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The Supreme Court on Monday authorised BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary to attend the ICC meeting. It had also asked CEO Rahul Johri to accompany him.
The SGM also ratified the payments to be made to former women cricketers, as announced on April 12. There was uncertainty over the payments due to differences between the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the Board officials. The BCCI also decided to double the cash award for Indian cricketers following their series win over Australia from R50 lakh to R1 crore.