The ICC issued a warning to the Pakistan Cricket Board about potential legal action from T20 World Cup official broadcasters JioStar because the PCB decided to boycott their scheduled February 15 match against India according to a PCB source who spoke on Tuesday. Pakistan decided to boycott the match in Colombo on February 15 on instructions of their government but haven’t yet officially specified the reasons to ICC. The ICC might decide to keep all of Pakistan’s annual revenue share which amounts to approximately USD 35 million because the organization plans to use that money to pay broadcasters according to PTI reports. A PCB source reported that chairman Mohsin Naqvi had consulted the board’s legal team before he informed PM Shehbaz Sharif about the matter but now the board expected serious repercussions.
“Pakistan will face both financial penalties and potential lawsuits from broadcasters if they refuse to play against India because their attempts to reach the ICC Dispute Resolution Committee will likely result in failures according to a PCB source who spoke to PTI.
The ICC Dispute Resolution Committee functions as an internal organization which does not accept appeals against decisions made by its own board.
“India will face challenges because they need to follow their government order which prohibits them from playing India while they choose to compete at neutral sites in Sri Lanka according to their preference” according to another PCB source.
“Indian teams remain unable to compete in Pakistan according to the Indian government. However, they continue to face no restrictions regarding their matches against Pakistan at neutral Asian venues during the Asian Cup and ICC events according to board sources who monitor Naqvi’s activities.
The PCB has not yet sent an official message to the ICC about the boycott decision which the ICC sees as a demonstration of support for Bangladesh following their elimination.
“When the ICC signed its four year deal with the broadcaster for all ICC events, the contract included Pakistan and India matches based on which the broadcaster made the payments to the ICC,” the source explained.
“So the broadcaster will be within its rights to take the PCB and ICC to court over a major breach of the contract.”