Caribbeans gave in to ICC pressure

Caribbean countries hosting the World Cup were pressured by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to either sign a contentious Host Venue Agreement (HVA) or lose the opportunity to host the event, alleged officials of at least three local organising committees (LOCs).

According to one official, some countries fought unsuccessfully against the conditions in the HVA before surrendering in order to put up a show of Caribbean unity.

The LOC official did not name the countries that opposed the HVA terms. However, he said that insistence against any changes came early from Cricket World Cup West Indies Inc, in accordance with instructions from the ICC, owners of the tournament, according to The Jamaica Observer.

The refusal to make changes to the HVA was "tantamount to a form of blackmail" and a court of law should be able to determine that the "agreement was substantially in favour of the ICC", said the LOC official.

"The pressures for compliance became enormous, knowing that we had to collectively show unanimity," said another LOC official.

Last Tuesday, Jamaica's Finance Minister Omar Davies told a meeting of parliament's standing finance committee that the nine Caribbean host countries were dissatisfied with the revenue sharing arrangements with the ICC and suggested that the courts could be asked to rule on the issue.

"There is a clear need to examine whether there is any legal recourse," Davies said in response to opposition MP Clive Mullings' question as to whether Caribbean governments would share in the revenue the ICC was making from television rights, given the enormous debts the region would be left with after the tournament.

Mullings had raised the question against the background of a media article suggesting that the ICC, world cricket's governing body, will be making significantly more than $550 million from its deal with ESPN STAR Sports, as its global media and production partner for audio-visual rights for its events.

Davies said that while he had seen the report, he needed first to check whether it was accurate before giving Mullings a definitive answer.

However, he said he was "aware that serious questions are being posed about the way in which the revenues are shared".

The Caribbean spent more than US$400 million to stage the tournament. The Jamaican government pumped in at least $8 billion (Jamaican) into preparing the country for the event.

Of this amount, a combined $60 million was spent on the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium, which hosted warm-up games and the opening ceremony, and on Sabina Park in Kingston where all Group D first-round matches were played.

Meanwhile, initiatives are currently being pursued by some LOCs and affiliates of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to demand that a "due diligence" exercise be undertaken, as a matter of priority, to determine the extent to which countries suffered "financial losses, as well as national pride" by virtue of yielding to the "dictated" arrangements to host the World Cup.

(IANS)

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