Will Musharraf bail out Delhi ODI?

Municipal authorities have refused permission to hold the last ODI due to "public safety" issues.

Cricket officials in the Indian capital are hoping Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will bail them out after municipal authorities refused permission to stage a high-profile match at a stadium still under construction.

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Musharraf, on an invitation from the Indian Government, is due to attend the sixth and final One-Day International between India and Pakistan on April 17 at the partially completed Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

The historic Kotla, one of the oldest Test venues in India, was razed to the ground two years ago to build a state-of-the-art 50,000-capacity stadium, but delays in construction and laying a new pitch have frustrated local officials.

The Indian cricket board selected the Kotla as a provisional venue for next month's one-dayer as the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) worked overtime to finish the stadium in time.

The DDCA reduced the capacity to 30,000 for the match, saying spectators will be allowed to occupy only the lower half of the two-tiered galleries, but municipal authorities refused to budge.

"Public safety has to be the top priority," Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) chairmam Rakesh Mehta said on Wednesday.

"No temporary occupancy certificate to hold the match can be issued under our laws."

Without the certificate, the DDCA will not get police and fire safety clearance, a pre-requisite for hosting the match.

But DDCA officials were confident the one-dayer will go ahead as scheduled.

"There are ways to get municipal clearance," a DDCA official said without elaborating.

"After all, we have been given charge of hosting the Pakistan President and we plan to do a very good job of it."