Pakistan-born ex-ICC chief Ehsan Mani surprised by Indian cricket board's embarrassing 1-9 loss at governing body's meeting where members voted for an equal share of revenue; establishment loses in governance voting too
Ehsan Mani
Ehsan Mani, who headed the International Cricket Council from 2003 to 2006. Pic/AFP
Ehasam Mani, who headed the International Cricket Council from 2003 to 2006, expressed surprise over India being thoroughly outvoted on revenue-sharing and governance fronts at the ICC Board meeting in Dubai yesterday.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I am a little surprised that the ICC did not find a face-saving way for BCCI to accept the decision. It is disappointing that the BCCI is now embarrassed to be sidelined like this. It's an important part of the ICC," Mani (72) told mid-day from Islamabad.
The BCCI, represented by its secretary Amitabh Chaudhary, lost 1-9 (full member votes) in the voting for a change in the financial model while only Sri Lanka (represented by Thilanga Sumathipala) supported India for a change in the governance structure.
"Frankly, the first agreement which included Australia, England and India was wrong. It was terrible for world cricket. I am pleased that Australia and England have seen sense and not prepared to do it. It would have been much more honourable for BCCI to voluntarily agree rather than be put in this rather embarrassing situation," said Mani.
According to ESPN Cricinfo, BCCI will now get USD 293 million from the ICC global revenues for the 2015-23 rights cycle. Mani urged the BCCI to look at the bigger picture. "BCCI has to think about world cricket as a whole and not just what happens in India. It is the richest board in the world, it doesn't need the money, whereas West Indies desperately need the money. Another 50 or 100 million dollars for West Indies would have made a difference between West Indies surviving as a cricket nation or be totally finished. At the end of the day, we don't want just three to four countries playing a high level of cricket and the rest going down and down," he said.
The BCCI is not expected to take the crushing defeat lying down and despite it being ruled by the four-member Committee of Administrators, the other officials won't be impressed by the happenings in Dubai. "I hope the BCCI think about it again. Rather than being revengeful, they should think about what's being done in the context of world cricket," said Mani, who does not buy the argument that BCCI should get a big share because they contribute the maximum to ICC's revenue: "If we follow that rule then America would probably get the biggest share of the Olympic Games. BCCI is a big contributor but you must not forget that the India-based multi nationals, who support cricket, also use it for global advertising." The Pakistani recalled how the late ICC and BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya went about things when he was in the big seat. "Dalmiya was very good at bringing all countries together. When I was ICC chairman, I would stress that we must not do anything that would damage world cricket. That was my simple approach, one that Dalmiya presented very strongly," said Mani.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
