For a while, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been threatening to sue the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for not honouring the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2014. On Thursday, PCB's Executive Committee chairman Najam Sethi confirmed that the legal notice is being drafted and will be sent to the BCCI by early next week.
Speaking to Sportstar from Dubai, Sethi admitted that he has spoken to the acting BCCI secretary Amitabh Chaudhary on the sidelines of the ICC Board meeting on Wednesday. "I met him (Chaudhary) yesterday and informed him about our decision to send the legal notice. We thought it is necessary to keep the BCCI officials in the loop, that's why I met Chaudhary," Sethi said.
The veteran Pakistani administrator, who is tipped to take over as the chairman of the PCB after Shahryar Khan steps down, also admitted that it was necessary for the PCB to sue the Indian board as it failed to keep the promise of playing six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. "There was no other way. We have to get the compensation from the BCCI for the loss we have incurred," Sethi added.
Interestingly, the move comes a day after the BCCI was outvoted in the ICC Board Meeting over the revenue model. Sethi, however, said that the outvoting had no role to play here. "This decision was taken long back. We were going slow to avoid any loopholes in the legal proceedings. The senior lawyers are busy drafting the legal notice, and it should reach the BCCI by early next week. They will have to get back at the earliest," Sethi said.
In March, Sportstar was first to report about the PCB's decision to slam a legal notice on the BCCI. While speaking to this publication ahead of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final, Sethi had confirmed that the Pakistan Board was all set to take legal action. On Thursday, however, Sethi confirmed that after he informed Chaudhary about its decision, there was no reaction from him. "We didn't discuss anything about it. It was just a formal meeting, and we left it at that," Sethi added. Sources in the BCCI also confirmed that it has been informed by the PCB about the legal notice.
The first legal course will be to approach the ICC disputes resolution committee, the board official confirmed.
This comes in the wake of BCCI's refusal to play Pakistan even at a neutral venue. With the Indian government unwilling to give clearance to the team to travel to Pakistan, the PCB had agreed to host its “home” series at neutral venues, including Sri Lanka. That too was turned down by the then officials of the BCCI. Pakistan claims it has lost nearly $200 million because of India’s refusal to play two “home” series. India has not played a full bilateral series with Pakistan since 2007 and the PCB since last year has been insisting it will pursue all legal avenues to seek compensation from India.
Sethi also informed that Giles Clarke, chairman of the ICC’s Task Force on Pakistan cricket, has reviewed the security report of ICC experts and has agreed to hold three Twenty20 matches in Pakistan. Sethi said the matches are scheduled for September 2017 and a team of ICC’s “top current players” will play the matches.
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