Thaindian News

London, June 26 (ANI): The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rejected the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) request to stage its share of 2011 World Cup matches at neutral venues such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The ICC has decided that the 14 matches, which were allotted to Pakistan earlier, would now be shared between the other three host nations India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

The ICC president David Morgan said that the apex authority did consider the PCB’s proposal of hosting the matches in a ‘fifth country’, but decided against it.

“The (ICC) board has considered that but it has decided the 14 matches originally allocated to Pakistan should take place in the three other subcontinent countries of the full members, that is India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” The Dawn quoted Morgan, as saying.

Morgan said the final decision on number of matches re-located to the other three host nations would be taken later, as the matter has been referred to the tournament’s central organising committee for further action.

“We need a recommendation from those four host nations, including Pakistan. They will come forward with the location of those matches to the commercial board of the ICC,” Morgan added.

The ICC, which had stripped Pakistan of the mega event’s hosting rights following the brazen terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in March, however, said that Pakistan would remain a co-host of the World Cup.

Morgan also announced that despite not hosting any World Cup matches, Pakistan would receive a hosting fee of 750,000 dollars per match amounting to a whopping 10.5 million dollars in total. (ANI)