MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council has provided assurances over the concerns raised by the Pakistan Cricket Board about the participation of its team and presence of Pakistani fans at the Twenty20 World Cup that India is scheduled to host in October, PCB chairman Ehsan Mani has confirmed.
Mani made the disclosure in an interview to Pakistan’s Jang newspaper on Wednesday (March 17).
In a related development, Cricbuzz reports that the Board of Control for Cricket in India has addressed the concerns raised by the PCB over permissions for the Pakistan team, media and fans to enter India for the World T20.
The cricket website reports that that the BCCI has written to ICC assuring them that there would be no complications for the Pakistan contingent’s passage into India for the tournament in October-November. Specifically, it has cited a letter written by the Government of India to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) assuring the Olympic body that no team will be denied entry into India for any multilateral sporting competition.
Mani recently raised concerns over Indian visas and said if the BCCI failed to provide assurances by March 31, the tournament should be shifted to the UAE. The UAE, incidentally, is the designated standby for the tournament.
“The BCCI has referred Indian government’s communication to the IOC in its letter to the ICC. Even the Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) has been kept in the loop,” a “source in the know” told Cricbuzz.
The matter will come up for discussion at the ICC executive board meeting scheduled for March 31 and April 1.
