ICC bans government meddling [Archive] - PakPassion

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ahsan88

30th June 2011, 07:30

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/inside_sport.asp?xfile=/data/cricket/2011/June/cricket_June212.xml&section=cricket

Cricket’s governing body on Thursday banned countries from appointing politicians to national cricket boards, vowing to free the sport from undue government influence.

The International Cricket Council told a media conference in Hong Kong that it had made the decision to uphold “the important principle of free elections and the independence” of the sport.

“It was agreed that all member boards must implement the provisions before annual conference June 2012 and a further 12 months — to June 2013 — would be allowed before any sanctions be considered,” the ICC said in a statement issued in Hong Kong.

The reform, which allows the ICC to suspend a member country in the event of government interference in the running of a national cricket board, will be hugely controversial in Pakistan, where the president is the cricket board’s patron. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will also be hit by the change.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could not immediately be reached for comment.

Chairman Ijaz Butt has been criticised by former players, politicians and media for being a political appointee of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party.

The PCB has already sent a legal notice to the ICC on the amendment and has threatened legal action if the constitution is changed.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the ICC’s full council after four days of talks between the chief executives’ committee and executive board at glitzy hotels in downtown Hong Kong.

“This is a significant step towards achieving best practice and together with the independent governance review, I am excited by the commitment of the ICC to introduce best possible corporate governance,” ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said.

Masterji

30th June 2011, 07:41

Great news, i hope the ICC don`t back down. Lets kick out these corrupt losers and bring in dare i say some honest dedicated people.

ahamedirshad123

30th June 2011, 07:56

But who is pawar? He is the corrupt politician who heads ICC. Cricket boards should be headed by a cricketer. wait, wait... Ijaz Butt was also a cricketer :facepalm:

Saj

30th June 2011, 08:04

Now this gets interesting.

Are we soon going to see a PCB chairman democratically elected and not appointed by the President?

chill79

30th June 2011, 08:07

If that happens, I think the workaround would be to give an international cap to polictians. Soon we would be seeing politicians playing international cricket just to be applicable for official post in the respective boards

violet_may

30th June 2011, 08:09

:ibutt 's days are numbered huh? Is this why :afridi recently said, "Don't worry. You will see me as Pakistani captain soon?"

Tay'yab-Ali Malik

30th June 2011, 08:13

Since the unfortunate terror attacks in Mumbai the Indian government has refused permission for BCCI to resume cricket with Pakistan... this will be intresting now

ash 68

30th June 2011, 08:16

This may get rid of Butt

but would not stop Zardari from aoointing new board members selected by him who then vote for a new chairman (under the influence of Zardari himself)

however, I`m happy that ICC is forcing countries to select a fairer administration

Gabbar Singh

30th June 2011, 08:38

The ICC are not gong to ban politicians to hold office but simply ban them from being 'appointed' - a politician could still well hold office after being elected.

Random Aussie

30th June 2011, 09:07

As usual the ICC has backed away from a good idea and watered it down.

The idea should have been ban all government meddling. Would have consequences for PCB of course, but also for BCCI (Govt of India ban on Pakistan) and even Australia (Govt preventing tour of Zimbabwe for example). That would have been excellent but ICC does not have cojones to do something like that.

Indieview

30th June 2011, 09:32

Syed Ali Imran

30th June 2011, 09:57

I strongly supports ICC's stand to ban those boards who are influenced by national governments. PCB should be banned end of the story dissolve the board give all the billions to Zardari and lets start it from the scratch.

ash 68

30th June 2011, 10:02

ICC Ban is on Govt interference on Board governance...

The Indian govt do not have a say in who must head the BCCI whereas boards like PCB, SL do have govt interference in selection of the board members, this is what ICC would like to Ban ..

absolute rubbish, the Indian govt has final say on BCCI policy and by extension on the board itself

proved by PAK player exclusion iin IPL, |IPL and BCCI are stongly linked

NJamal

30th June 2011, 10:05

Good, now can we please get rid of Jahaz Butt?

pakistanigoneaussie

30th June 2011, 10:27

Imran khan will love this

Desi_Joker

30th June 2011, 11:10

Shukar hai! Finally ICC stepping up!

mZj

30th June 2011, 12:35

excellent!! however, i want to know how mr. Khappay khappayyy reacts to this.

SameerP

30th June 2011, 15:58

:ibutt 's days are numbered huh? Is this why :afridi recently said, "Don't worry. You will see me as Pakistani captain soon?"

:ibutt will still be there for atleast a couple more years, this system won't be implemented immediately. I am not sure Zardari will let PCB being run by anyone other than his buddies, the election will be fixed

JibranAnsari

30th June 2011, 16:16

practically impossible in pakistan

Saad Hasan

30th June 2011, 16:20

Rules and Laws are never meant to be implemented unformally nor consistently...in fact they are made to target and single out the weak and those in opposition...look for this law to be selectively applied to weaker nations, Pak, WI, Bangers et al...and look for BCCI to consistently get away with Gov't of India's interference...

cricket_fever

30th June 2011, 16:28

the "Jahaz" wont be pleased :ibutt, but the beast definitely shall be :D :afridi

cricketpassion

30th June 2011, 17:07

Great news if ICC dont take u turn :imran

Gollum

30th June 2011, 17:50

i hope ICC finds some way to enforce this....

Bleed_Blue

30th June 2011, 18:22

AfridiZindabad

30th June 2011, 18:37

lmao

ICC should be banned first then, its quite clear Pawar is a minister in India

AfridiZindabad

30th June 2011, 18:38

RandomAussie , unfortunately ICC can't have a say about national security of any country. Its something quite obvious which everyone should know.

Looney

30th June 2011, 20:05

remove zardari and other future presidents as chief patrons of PCB and only then i will think they are serious about this

Desi

30th June 2011, 20:28

good joke lol

this will never happen

Inherent Ignorance

1st July 2011, 15:00

I don't think this will work.

Zaz

1st July 2011, 17:14

violet_may

2nd July 2011, 03:05

Random Aussie

2nd July 2011, 06:47

That's a completely stupid statement to make.

Govt will always have final say about everything concerned with the country.

FIFA has this rule.

You seem to have a comprehension problem.

If government meddles, cricket board gets sanctioned or not invited to tournaments.

Random Aussie

2nd July 2011, 06:49

RandomAussie , unfortunately ICC can't have a say about national security of any country. Its something quite obvious which everyone should know.

Nothing to do with security. India excluding Pakistan and Aus government banning Zim tour are not security decisions they are political decisions.

kashmiri_lad

2nd July 2011, 08:06

Nothing to do with security. India excluding Pakistan and Aus government banning Zim tour are not security decisions they are political decisions.
These indeed are political decisions..
You are confusing the democratic election of the Cricket BOARD with the foreign policies of a COUNTRY's govt.
Indian govt. was against the resumption of the bilateral series and not any other tournament game.
I think that right has to be given to the GOVT.
So, in this case, ICC is talking about the running of the CRICKET BOARD by officials who have been elected democratically or whose officials are not appointed by the GOVT...

hasanmehmoodkhan

2nd July 2011, 11:38

shabash ICC

NO 1 AFRIDI FAN

2nd July 2011, 11:48

Good step by the ICC, but we shall see what happens.

Big Harvey

2nd July 2011, 13:02

And the very day after the ICC's new policy was announced:

"The Sri Lankan government has dissolved the country's cricket board and appointed a new one amid claims of corruption and mismanagement.

The government says a new board will be elected in January.

Under new rules set by world cricket's governing body, national cricket boards must be elected and free of political interference within two years.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has been run by political appointees on a temporary basis for years and is heavily in debt.

The cricket board owes more than $15m after co-hosting this year's World Cup with India and Bangladesh. Last month it sought financial help from the government and state bank.
'Wrong media reports'

Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told BBC Sinhala that the interim committee announced on Friday would serve until January when elections would be held.

"As per ICC recommendation we could have run an interim committee until 2013, but we will hold elections in January 2012," he said.

The new committee contains one former national player, Sidath Wettimuny, and three businessmen, headed by Upali Dharmadasa who was also part of the sport's governing body in the 1990s.

The changes come as cricket in Sri Lanka is going through rough times.

In April former national captain Hashan Tillekaratne claimed that match fixing had been a widespread practice in Sri Lankan cricket since 1992.

Shortly after the country co-hosted the World Cup this year, the captain, vice-captain and panel of selectors all resigned.

Although they did not say so, there has been much speculation that they had had enough of political interference in the game, the BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says.

Many fans were unhappy when veteran player Sanath Jayasuriya was recently recalled to the squad, apparently by virtue of being a government MP.

There is a widespread feeling that cricket is corruptly and badly run in Sri Lanka, our correspondent says.

But the sports minister denied this. He said accounts of mismanagement in cricket were exaggerated, adding: "There is no financial crisis in the SLC."

Members of both committees would face a parliamentary committee on 6 July to "clear their name from certain wrong media reports", he added."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13986371

AlizeeFan

2nd July 2011, 16:54

Government intervention only in security - Lorgat

The ICC will only allow government intervention in cricket in matters related to security, its chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said. In its annual conference in Hong Kong which concluded on June 30, the ICC agreed to an amendment to its constitution that would require all member boards to hold free elections in a bid to democratise the governance of the game and do away with political or government interference. But that did not apply to security matters, Lorgat clarified.

"Only in one case will the ICC allow governments to interfere with the affairs of the member board: when there are security issues involved between the two countries, and if any national squad do not tour any other country on security grounds the ICC will accept government's writ," Lorgat told Dawn. Cricket tours to countries have been called off due to government directives, with Australia not touring Pakistan in the past and England refusing to play in Zimbabwe, most notably in the 2003 World Cup.

The boards most affected by the ICC's decision are the PCB, the Bangladesh Cricket Board and Sri Lanka Cricket, though everyone has until 2013 to comply with the provisions of free elections and no political interference in their respective constitutions. The PCB chairman is appointed by the president of the country; all board presidents in Bangladesh are government-appointed and in Sri Lanka the board answers directly to the sports ministry, which on Friday dissolved SLC's interim committee and appointed a new one.

The PCB had objected to the ICC's proposal in April, sending a legal notice. The board had pointed to the issue of government involvement in security matters as evidence that there may be grey areas as a result of the amendment. But a compromise was worked out in meetings before the annual conference where it was agreed that boards would have till 2013 to comply with the new rules. During this period, the boards can discuss and try to resolve any potential problems of implementing the decision. The support for the amendment, Lorgat said, was unanimous.

"Every member country supported the amendment and it was required to make the member countries have a free election system, to hold a democratic process in the administration, which can strengthen the leadership of the board." When asked if the PCB supported it as well, Lorgat said: "Everyone".

The PCB will be discussing the amendment with the Pakistan government. "How we implement this reform will depend on our talks with the government," its chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed told reporters following his arrival in Pakistan from Hong Kong.

The ICC had appointed a Pakistan Task Force (PTT) with its initial aim being to examine ways to ensure international cricket returned to Pakistan. But the task force's objectives were broadened in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal to also promote an improvement in governance by the PCB. Lorgat said the task force, led by ECB chairman Giles Clarke, had submitted its state of affairs report along with some recommendations, and its role had ended.

"Now it comes to its logical ending and we have provided the full report by the task force to the PCB. The report has many parts; one relates to the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore in 2009 while another concerns the spot-fixing issues that surfaced in the Lord's Test [between Pakistan and England] in August 2010."

What if the recommendations suggested a return of international cricket to Pakistan? "Then the ICC will encourage the visiting country to go to Pakistan, but again we will accept government's directives over safety and security issues."

Source (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/521659.html)

R0H1T

2nd July 2011, 17:38

Nothing to do with security. India excluding Pakistan and Aus government banning Zim tour are not security decisions they are political decisions.
India's tour to PAK in 2009 was cancelled due to security reasons though afterwards in the backdrop of 26/11 IND refused any bilateral series with PAK. Call it what you may but if the reasons are valid then no ICC or FIFA can force teams to play each other which is quite similar to those Apartheid days when IND was one of the first nations to snap ties with SA & even forfeited the Davis Cup final at that time unlike certain cricket teams which toured that part of the world for the sole purpose of making money ! Double Standards ?

R0H1T

2nd July 2011, 17:38

Double Post !

Gollum

2nd July 2011, 18:31

Nice way out for the BCCI! They can always make the security excuse to exclude Pakistan team/players from playing against India be it in India or overseas.

AfridiZindabad

2nd July 2011, 19:24

Nothing to do with security. India excluding Pakistan and Aus government banning Zim tour are not security decisions they are political decisions.

Government intervention only in security - Lorgat (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/521659.html)

:yk

Sanchez

2nd July 2011, 23:26

India's tour to PAK in 2009 was cancelled due to security reasons though afterwards in the backdrop of 26/11 IND refused any bilateral series with PAK. Call it what you may but if the reasons are valid then no ICC or FIFA can force teams to play each other which is quite similar to those Apartheid days when IND was one of the first nations to snap ties with SA & even forfeited the Davis Cup final at that time unlike certain cricket teams which toured that part of the world for the sole purpose of making money ! Double Standards ?

What a stupid analogy, talk about having a misplaced sense of self-righteousness.

Random Aussie

3rd July 2011, 00:44

Government intervention only in security - Lorgat (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/521659.html)

:yk

Nice :yk

R0H1T

3rd July 2011, 06:25

What a stupid analogy, talk about having a misplaced sense of self-righteousness.
Not as stupid as you are, if the reasons are justifiable then you simply can't force teams/nations to play each other in any form of sports not just cricket which you don't seem to understand very well !
Sports & Politics aren't mutually exclusive at international level, never have never will, otherwise you wouldn't have had 1936 Olympics in Germany & there have been innumerable instances of such show of national pride, solidarity & such stuff to get a point across even though the other party might have thick skin/deaf ears.

Random Aussie

3rd July 2011, 07:10

Not as stupid as you are, if the reasons are justifiable then you simply can't force teams/nations to play each other in any form of sports not just cricket which you don't seem to understand very well !
Sports & Politics aren't mutually exclusive at international level, never have never will, otherwise you wouldn't have had 1936 Olympics in Germany & there have been innumerable instances of such show of national pride, solidarity & such stuff to get a point across even though the other party might have thick skin/deaf ears.

You bag the other guy for being stupid then post a bizarre statement like this. Having the Olympic in Germany in 1936 is actually evidence against your post as the sport went on regardless of the politics. LOL.

R0H1T

3rd July 2011, 07:36

You bag the other guy for being stupid then post a bizarre statement like this. Having the Olympic in Germany in 1936 is actually evidence against your post as the sport went on regardless of the politics. LOL.
Come again ?
WW2 started with German invasion of Poland in 1939 & had it not been for France/UK turning their blind eye to events led by Germany's assualt on Austria the previous year WW2 would have started alot earlier & might not have ended with the bombings on Hiroshima/Nagasaki, you clearly need to back your statements with substance not LOL !
BTW it was in their(UK/France) own interests, Germany as a counter against the Soviet Union, to paticipate in Berlin Olympics otherwise Hitler's ambitions could have been thwarted at the beginning itself ! Hence the parallels with Apartheid.

Random Aussie

3rd July 2011, 07:46

Come again ?
WW2 started with German invasion of Poland in 1939 & had it not been for France/UK turning their blind eye to events led by Germany's assualt on Austria the previous year WW2 would have started alot earlier & might not have ended with the bombings on Hiroshima/Nagasaki, you clearly need to back your statements with substance not LOL !

You need to clarify what the heck you actually mean. Because it is nonsensical. How does the Olympics being held in Germany in 1936 prove your point that politics and sport are not mutually exclusive at international level?

Posting a bunch of stuff about WW2 which happened subsequent to 1936 doesn't mean anything other than you have seen a TV program about it sometime. So how about you explain what you mean instead of posting things which seem totally unrelated to this thread?

R0H1T

3rd July 2011, 08:03

Posting a bunch of stuff about WW2 which happened subsequent to 1936 doesn't mean anything other than you have seen a TV program about it sometime. So how about you explain what you mean instead of posting things which seem totally unrelated to this thread?
Read post above(after editing) & why do you think events like the Great Depression(1930's) didn't have a bearing on subsequent events including Berlin Olympics leading all the way upto WW2. Besides this isn't coming from a TV show, I read it in my history books uptil 10th Grade though don't recall all of it.

Blitz

3rd July 2011, 08:47

R0H1T

3rd July 2011, 08:59

Hate to break all your bubbles, stating the olympics as reference to no politics or anything and going back 80 years ago!!

Let me bring you lot to a couple of events, closer to us.

1980 and 1984- Russia and USA got several countries to boycott those 2 olympics because of politics of the cold war.

So, stop using that as an example to show governments don't play part. theres inteference, everywhere, in every sport!
Precisely, ICC/IOC/FIFA can't meddle in cases where the national governments have a final say(bilateral games) all they can do is stop the day to day affairs of a cricket board being affected by politicians end of !

Random Aussie

4th July 2011, 06:25

Precisely, ICC/IOC/FIFA can't meddle in cases where the national governments have a final say(bilateral games) all they can do is stop the day to day affairs of a cricket board being affected by politicians end of !

FIFA excludes teams from tournaments if they have government interference. IOC can exclude nations from the Olympics.

You seem to misunderstand the point. It is not that ICC can change what the government does, it is that it could follow the FIFA model and sanction those countries where governments are interfering in the sport.

So hypothetically, India refuses Pakistan tour on political grounds. ICC then treats the series in rankings as a forfeit by India. This is just an example please dont come back with Indo-Pak bakwaas.

If you prefer, Australia refuses to tour Zim on political grounds, therefore ICC considers the series forfeited. Not never happened but as a win for Zim.

Edit - I should add this will never happen the way the ICC is constituted - but it is the way it should operate.