Cricinfo - Blogs - Different Strokes - Why Pakistan is right to take the ICC to court

The opportunity for a legal challenge to the ICC popped up unexpectedly for the PCB. It is only understandable that with the chips down and their backs to the wall, they will pounce on it. Unlike on previous occasions, when security concerns have been discussed, it appears that this time around due process was not followed. The PCB claims that relocating World Cup matches was not on the agenda of the recent ICC meeting, and when it was brought up, the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt was caught off guard. If this is true, then the ICC has no defence. Any law firm worth its salt – and DLA Piper, the group engaged by the PCB, is certainly one such – will smell blood and go for the kill.

Granted, Mr Butt should have done his homework on this topic. Granted, he and his aides should have been able to think on their feet and propose Dubai and Abu Dhabi as proxy venues. Had he done that during the meeting, it is possible that the compromise now being hoped for could have been reached without much fuss.

But even despite this missed opportunity, the PCB is in the rare position of having a strong hand. Pakistan's recent series against Australia has shown that the stadiums in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with fantastic facilities and full-throated crowd support, are highly credible alternate venues. True, they are outside the boundaries of South Asia, but flying times are convenient, with a flight from Karachi to Dubai taking about only as long as a flight from Karachi to Islamabad. There is some concern that the arrangement has proved more expensive for the PCB than expected, but added expense is hardly a driving concern if you are trying to salvage World Cup hosting rights and the prestige that comes with them.

Put yourself in the PCB's shoes. It deserves some empathy. Several commentators have observed that this legal confrontation between the ICC and the PCB helps no one. Nothing could be farther from the truth, because it certainly helps Pakistan. It gives the PCB an opening that, for the first time in this atmosphere of fear and terror, could enable them to force a compromise. For if the ICC failed to follow due process, it has few options. With DLA Piper on the case, we can be sure we will get to the bottom of this.

Finally, someone took the ICC to court!!!
It is high time the ICC learnt a lesson. Leave aside all your differences and pray for an embarassing defeat for the ICC in the court.

I hope the court orders that all matches be played in Pakistan, so that all teams will refuse to go there, and every team will award points to each other, and this World Cup will then be an even bigger farce than the previous one.

What is the need to have these meaningless 50 over games anyway? Such a waste of money (floodlights, ticket charges, 5-star hotels, television and related equipment, security, etc.) in such crunch times.

Intuitively, it seems to me that the ICC has no defense. They argue that the PCB didn’t vote against the issue, thus that makes PCB’s case weak. The ICC is, I suppose, claiming that, at the time of the vote, PCB showed implicit consent by not voting against the removal of matches from Pakistan. However, the PCB should easily be able to argue that they abstained from the vote precisely because they didn’t agree with the idea of the vote; that the ICC didn’t follow the right protocol as the vote on the worldcup wasn’t intended to be held at that time, and thus in PCB’s view, the vote was never justified and is thus void. Equally, their abstinence makes the case stronger rather than weaker, as, had the PCB voted, they would have agreed (in the concrete) with the idea of the vote. If they had voted, the PCB would have demonstrated purpose in the vote, and the ICC could well argue that the only thing relevant after that would be the vote's result or conclusion.

PCB has done the right thing here and i support them. They should also start collecting some evidence against BCCI and take them to court as well. Does anyone else remember how they asked the SL cricket team to not tour Pakistan and tried their best to have that Pak vs SL tour canceled? I wouldn't be surprised if they were behind the attack on the SL cricket team.

Pakistan is as "dangerous" as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. No cricket player or any other sports player has ever died in Pakistan. If other countries can host the matches then SO CAN WE!

India ditched Pakistan and divided the Asian block - Can't believe these are the two countries who went and played a match in SriLanka during the last South Asian world cup when others were boycotting it. India, given its position should have come out and played a role in keeping the block united. Pakistan's option - Well none in this case when they were pushed against the wall. Lawsuit or for that matter any option in this case was better then rolling over and playing dead. Sad, very sad indeed with how things turned up in this wonderful game of cricket.

PCB is justified to take ICC to court. Without any valid reason ICC removed Pakistan as world cup host. If Pakistan was not safe then either India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are not safe. Why Pakistan should risk its life by playing in these dangerous countries. Also ICC has never given Pakistan a good deal. First they took away champions trophy then deprived Pakistan of hosting world cup. ICC should have allowed a year atleast to clarify the matter. PCB did what was available to them in given circumstances. Whenever some one is being cheated then they have no option left but to seek legal help. This step PCB should have taken very earlier. ICC is doing some thing to please BCCI because they have enough money to feed them. Its time PCB must take its own decision.

Pakistan did a good job to decide to go court of law.ICC should talk to pakistan prior to raise it in the meeting. If zimbabway was not being deprived by its Test Status until Mr. Ahsan Mani talked to their officials than why Pakistan did not get a chance. Its all discriminaton and one sided decision. ICC said that Pakistan's matches has been moved but Pakistan is still a co-host, wow, what a change in their stand after pakistan file a suit. If it is neccesary to change venue of the matches played in PAKISTAN Than you should ask PAKISTAN that do you have any alternate place because we do not want it in PAKISTAN because of these reasons but insted of that you moved it to INDIA (Most of them), why? What will happen if Pakistan in the final and PAKISTAN Government did not let Players to go INDIA because of same security reasons? Think , its not a wise decision, its biased and unnatural.

Good article. I hope Mr.Shafqat is correct and that indeed what PCB is thinking is moving Pakistan's games including the finals to the UAE. It's sad that aside from Sri Lanka perhaps no other board has got Pakistan's back. From the other articles posted on Cricinfo it seems that It was disappointing to read that while NZ and Aus will happily take the 2011 Worldcup they refuse to give the rights for 2015 back to Asia. It also seems that while ICC claims Pakistan is still hosting just the matches are moved away, Pakistan will get none of the hosting fee either. I understand the situation in Pakistan is bad, and I don't think any country should be forced to play there, but at the same time it's very sad to see the lack of support for Pakistan given its past contributions to the ICC.

This is a good move from the PCB, which shows their commitments with the game. As far as the security in Pakistan is concerned, there is no doubt, the Lahore attacks on the Sri Lankan players worsened it, but one must not forget, that the World Cup is still far away, to be decided about. If it is the case, then the world cup must be either postponed for one more year as the Champions trophy or may be given to some other countries like Australia & New Zealand or England. The situation in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are no different than Pakistan. The prove is IPL move from India to South Africa, though it is stated that it was due to its confrontation with Indian General Election. Bangladesh refused to host Pakistan for ONLY Five ODI's and the ICC still beleive that those countries are eligible to host the world cup. We hope this move of PCB will help Pakistan's stance regarding dual policy towards security situations in the Asian Block.

Well done Mr. Shafqat. Thanks for putting all cricket loving fans of pakistan's thoughts infornt of the world. I agree you can't suddenly snatch on other's right like ICC did. It would need a serious explaining by ICC in the court of law, unless both parties reach a compromise.In my view it is serious lack on insight on part of ICC by ignoring the fact that the situation is not safe even in other World cup 2011 host countries.
Thumbs up for PCB.

Mr saad shafqut,
Sir you are quite right. Pakistan should fight for rights till they get the true judgement.I am sure India is definately behind this mess up,which is not easy to proove.ICC should be heavily penalised for this type of discrimination,as at present the security in India ,Srilanka and Banglades are not good and satisfactory. I sincerely pray to ALLAH, sothat Pakistan should win this fightand bring down ICC and INdia. AMEEN AMEEN AMEEN

From an outside view, I had high hopes when Lorgat became ICC chief.
Now I feel the ICC and Lorgat are in no way good enough to be charged with preserving and running the game of cricket.
The ICC is run for the benefit of its main members -India, England, SA & Aus and Lorgat is just a puppet in charge, whose job it seems is to look after these 4 members interests - which happen to be to generate as much money as possible.
West Indies and Zim are lost, Pakistan is going that way, Bangladesh are not good enough and NZ and Sri Lank could fall away very easily. What other teams are emerging as a cricket force? NONE!
SO TELL ME WHAT GLOBAL SPORT CAN SURVIVE WITH JUST 4-6 TEAMS!?
That is what will be left if the status quo continues and who will want to watch the same 4 teams play each other every game?!!
The ICC must grow up and start to preserve cricket's overall interests in the current countries and beyond, not those of a few.
Maybe if it cant do this...a breakaway federation is needed!

Misplaced observations.
A, per the commentary earlier, PCB refrained from proposing Dubai/Abu Dhabi owing to the cost that it'd have to incur.
B, PCB, as known, is already bankrupt or nearing, could it afford such an expensive adventure to keep Pakistan as host? If they do however propose, this would be another display of senseless leadership that Pakistan Board has gotten so used to.

Instead of being pro-active and supporting the obvious (moving the tournament out of Pakistan for cricketers lives sake), PCB has gone ahead and accused India, Sri Lanka and B'desh of having as grave issues as Pakistan! Have they not been keeping up with current affairs? Doing this they've made more enemies than friends within the cricketing community.
Sad commentary by Mr Shafqat, its thinkers such as him that have put Paki cricket in the mess.
Paki Cricket needs empathy, the cricketers and Pakis are suffering for no fault of theirs, but is this the right way to earn?

What is with the statment "Put yourself in PCB shoes" - cmon, the action taken by PCB is kiddish and shows amount of immaturity. Also it looks like if I cant have then no body around me should have. that attitude is not going to gain grounds. Matches in Dubai Abu Dhabi will get crowd but will any other teams interested in playing there? What if countries just give away to points to Pak cricet team and not participate. Remeber 1996 world cup when many teams did not go to SL? So get back to your yard, clean up the mess and be patient. Would it be okay for PCB to get the hosting fees? Will that make them feel alright? Wait and watch whr FTP comes for new agenda, let us see how many countries wants to play Pak home and away series. Get your mind straight and think rationally, do not let your emotions get better of you. To Mr.Mani, take some sleeping pills, your statement that India was behind the decision ICC pulled the plug on Pak is going to get some real harsh taste lasting forever.

Well Written Mr.Saad Shafqat !
We hope to see that Pakistan gets back world cup hosting rights. One never knows what is going to be the security situation in South Asia in next two years. Punishing a country because that is front line state against terroism is not fair play. Our country and players need International support to remain steadfast against extremists.
ICC members should have waited for at least another year before shifting the matches from Pakistan. Taking away the rights all together is just punishing the people of Pakistan.
Thanks again for a nice and balanced writing.

Perhaps you havent yet read Haroon Lorgat's comments on the matter. "We used our response to clarify inaccuracies and misunderstandings in the PCB's claim, including confirmation of the fact that the agenda and the board papers for the recent ICC board meetings did very specifically raise the question of whether the 2011 World Cup matches assigned to the PCB as joint hosts should be relocated outside of Pakistan" and "The suggestion the ICC board was not empowered to decide that matches should be moved away from Pakistan and that such a decision was 'legally flawed' is also incorrect and without foundation." I suppose we are going to see the constitution disected.

Finally a logical analysis of the situation. What PCB must try to get out of this and I think that there is a very good chance that they can, is to enforce a proper professional security assessment of Pakistan by independent experts. IF not found satisfactory then the UAE venues be used instead of Pakistan. It goes without saying that all the financial benefits should be for Pakistan. Pakistan should also ensure that all the security arrangements and guarantees being demanded from it are also demanded of other hosts. In addition Pakistan should also seek an assurance from ICC that the Indian government will not create Visa problems for Pakistani players as we have seen in the IPL.

i think you make a good point about dubai & abu dhabi very impressive venues from what i saw on tv. i would like to add with pakistans games quota being reassigned to india where do the icc plan to have pakistan play during the world cup given the tension between the governments of pakistan and india. will they just play in bangledesh and sri lanka??? i think the icc should look at the UAE as it gives pakistan some home support and the world cup makes enough money to cover the higher costs of staging games in the emerits.

Saad mate,

Could you tell me how you managed to get “deep inside” the PCB hierarchy? Did the “PCB hierarchy” send you a text saying, “deep inside, we know no one’s coming to play cricket here. How are the parents?” Or were you a psychoanalyst for the “PCB hierarchy”?

What prestige can Pakistan have after being unable to host anyone and having to use another country as proxy?

PCB is a luckless, thoughtless circus run by an idiot in a suit.

Shouldn’t you be a little careful not slipping from PCB to Pakistan [as if they both meant the same thing] or trying to rouse empathy for an institution that nearly got an international team killed [not to mention got plenty of people killed] because it did not take what was going on in the country seriously?

This move is another one of PCB's mindless ideas that resemble the antics of a irritating child.

After ICC' clarification that Pcb is still host it clearly shows how competent and ill prepared Pcb officials must have een at the meeting. As hey claimed Pakistan has been stripped off its hosting rights and hosting money. It has proven once again that Pcb is being un by ill informed ,incompetent butt heads.Their move may be justified as to bring honor back but not the teams as nobody will be convinced to tour not even Bangladesh. Thanks. Pakistan zindabaad.

Well i personally think that yes there was a mistake made by PCB that they should have been better prepared for it,
but to me its not security it is the biased attitude neing shown by ICC and other countries towards Pakistan, why ?because when other teams can go to india even with a mumbai attack, and then if australia can stay in england despite the 7-7 attacks ,why the hell cant Pakistan have its world cup here, and considering there are still 2 years to go in world cup.

I think this is a highly insensitive move by the PCB. Imagine how the Sri Lankan players and umpires who were under attack barely a few months ago feel about having to go play further matches in Pakistan. Instead of spending this time and money litigating with the ICC the PCB should spend the money investigating the GRAVE FAILURES of its security apparatus which has led to an international cricket team almost being massacred. Of course India will be blamed for this !!! Why cant they just accept there is a grave security problem in Paksitan. I think that its time the Pakistani govt and cricket board first look at how it can improve the situation within its own borders and then worry about if their pockets are being filled.

A well balanced and unbiased viewpoint! If games are to be shifted from Pakistan because of security concern ( and nobody is really picking an issue on that!) it should be done in an orderly manner with due regard to the established ICC policies and procedures and not in a high handed and offensive manner as Pakistan alleges. I hope the law suit initiated by PCB gets to the bottom of the matter and the so called managers of ICC have some exposure to basic managerial skills which are so starkly missing from their actions in recent years.

Mr Shafqat

I have gone through your full writeup as well as the one by Osman Samiuddin earlier yesterday on Cricinfo. I am referring to Osman Samiuddin as he was the one who had earlier said that the PCBs reaction was more emotional than anything else. Yesterday, he himself put up the piece which had comments by Ehteshan Mani - digression?

Point is, it is hard to understand why everyone is suddenly thinking that the PCB deserves empathy and it should at least get an option of suggesting some other venues?

This is the WC we are talking about and I feel real pride and honor is to hold it IN the country rather than suggesting venues and options.

In your effort to delineate sports from the current Pakistan scenario, please understand that the country is seen as one by the international community. You cannot disown an injured leg - remember, it WILL affect the rest of the body. Same is the case here.

It would be good if you accept the scenario and not fight it unjustifiably.

Cricket for Pakistanis should be viewed as more than a sport- it is one of the unifying element for the cricket crazy nation. The decision of the ICC to shift matches, while understandable has hurt each and every Pakistani even in these times where so many unpleasant and difficult things are happening around us.This coupled with ICC's silence on the fact that IPL is going without any Pakistani players participating in it has led to a strong feeling of isolation. The so called Asian block actually appears disintegrated given that India now seems to think that they can monopolise the game's governing on the sheer strength of their commercial muscle.PCB's decision to send a legal notice should also be seen in the context that it cannot have any additional negative implications for Pakistan- there aren't many left. PCB should continue to push for a compromise- neutral venues and may be even Karachi which has recently successfuly hosted Srilanka and Asis Cup.

I am so surprised & shocked to see so many irresponsible and shameless comments here. Such a big tragedy just happened where so many policemen were killed and an international team suffered (who supported Pakistan when nobody wanted to play there) and still they are more bothered about hosting the WC rather than taking care of the situation in the country and the mess that PCB has gone into. If BCCI is not supporting PCB then even no other country is supporting them including Bangladesh & SriLanka. It seems all the misguided information, hatred, irrational thinking has crept in where people are more bothered about WC rights than nabbing the terrorists who killed innocent people, policmen, attached friendly international team etc
Oh God ! There is no value of life anymore and PCB instead of guaranteeing security, ensuring safety and creating a peaceful atmosphere. In 2 months only! everybody has forgotten what happened & this is more scary bcos it shows how less value life has in region

The article is very interesting and raises some very good points without favouring anyone. I am not from any of the south-east Asian countries in the saga but a fan of south east Asian cricket. It is depressing to see people quarrelling over there respective countries rather than addressing cricket and what the article depicts. It seems like a war between Muslims and Hindus. Lets put a scenario- imagine (God forbid) if India comes under a barrage of bomb attacks somewhere between now and the world cup. What will happen next? No place is safe from these terrorists.

The ICC definitely made a hasty decision. Decisions made on the spur of the moment is lame. As a neutral person I think Pakistan has the right to express their legal right even if they lose. I don't quite agree with proposing another venue such as Dubai. It should be in South East Asia. The concerned countries should work out some arrangement so everyone's happy. Let cricket be the winner. cheers

Security and not playing in Pak is no longer an issue now.

The manner, the rights, the move of Secretariat, pure derogatory manner, the Indian Cricket Council aka ICC dealt with a matter is farce.

Take the Indian Cricket Council to task, even if you lose at least they will know that economic dominance in global cricketing matters does not mean that they can walk over any one without following proper process.

Well done Ehsaan Mani!

Colombo/Dubai 10 hrs flight time? Enigma, if you are ignorant, than don't speculate! Would you be flying in a second world war piper with 10 different stops via India?
Flying time Colombo/Dubai is max. 3-3.5 hrs. Flying time Dhaka/Delhi or Chennai/Delhi is almost 3.5 hrs. Karachi/Dhaka is 3.5 hrs. So what's the big deal if the teams have to fly to Dubai/Abu Dhabi? They are only an hour and twenty minute from Karachi and maybe 3 hrs from Chennai or Delhi. Anyway, that should be the least of a problem. Logic should prevail and BCCI should stop meddling as always everywhere. ICC should try for once to stand up on its own and not cow down to BCCI's pressure.

Mr Shafqat's views appear to be founded more on his patriotic feelings than any reasonable analysis of the situation.

It is difficult to conceive any benefits to cricket or the world cup from PCBs lawsuit. There is no way the matches are going to be played in Pak, and the idea of world cup matches in UAE is ridiculous. Why move cricket's biggest tournament to a place where matches and atmospheres will be lifeless and soulless compared to the genuinely cricket-loving audiences of India, SL, and Bangladesh.

And to those commentors who continue to insist that India is as dangerous as Pak, consider the fact that the Ind board and govt, despite their faults, have shown plenty of evidence that they have the ability to provide top-level secutiy to teams (witness the English test tour of india) in contrast to the farcical "presidential-level" security pakistan provided to the SL team. the PCB simply does not seem to have the maturity to realize that they are to blame not the ICC or BCCI

Fact describing article I would say! Today's cricket has become a money making business rather than a sport. The support to IPL and puting restrictin to ICL are the best examples of this. BCCI is only concerned about money and not cricket.

It was a stupid move of PCB to support BCCI on ICL issue. Pakistan is the only country who has suffered the most from ICL.

What is meant by only matches are removed but Pakistan is still the co host for 2011 WC? Is this some kind of joke? If Pakistan has still the rights as co host, they should had been consulted before taking this decision by Indian controlled ICC. As a cricket lover I fully support PCB move to take ICC to the court.

And Pakistan's matches should be moved to UAE. We all have witnessed the facilities in UAE are as good as Australia or NZ during the Pak/Aus series. C'mon BCCI show some sportsman spirit. You are the one who tried to purchase the SL board by offering them money. Arjuna removed coz of u as he opposed ur idea.

Posted by: RT at May 17, 2009 6:06 AM

"Mr Shafqat's views appear to be founded more on his patriotic feelings than any reasonable analysis of the situation."

First of all, what's wrong with being patriotic? We are not talking about IPL but CWC which is still played between countries (thank God) so patriotism is a natural ingredient. Furthermore; the manner in which this decision was taken specially under pressure from BCCI, even an average non-patriotic Pak fan is livid. Saad has provided the best well balanced analysis of all. Don't blame the messenger if you don't agree with the message.

Lifeless cricket atmosphere in UAE? I guess you did not witness the recent Pak/Aus series. Stadiums were not sold out but they were far from being soulless... even Indian fans were present cheering Aus ofcourse.

Why is it that more Indian fans are shouting the loudest against PCB's legal case in every blog on cricinfo. Time to check your own patriotism before accusing others.