Mandela to the rescue!

Mandela may step-in to end deadlock
16 March 2002

The International Cricket Council (ICC) will urge former South African president Nelson Mandela to persuade the Indian government to allow its team to resume cricket relations with Pakistan.

The resolution was unanimously approved on the opening day of the two-day summit that began in Cape Town Friday. “Mr Mandela will be requested to use his good offices and convince the Indian authorities not to mix sports with politics,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia told Dawn from Cape Town.

“The ICC is confident that if a personality like Mr Mandela steps in, results would be positive,” he said, adding: “An official request will now be sent through the ICC forum.”

India cancelled two tours to Pakistan inside six months last year. But the ICC is more concerned since it has drawn India to tour Pakistan thrice in its 10-year calendar. India, according to the schedule, is due to visit Pakistan in April next year.

Pakistan is also slated to tour thrice in the next 10 years. But Islamabad has never stopped its team to either travel to India or play India in any sporting arena.


If this happens then it would be one of the weirdest but best thing for cricket.
Lets hope those cowards at Indian government think about the people of the two countries and stop thinking about themselves.


Another related news is this .
I think this is bets way to prsssurize Indian Government who acted stupid on this matter.BCI is helpless ,They always wanted toplay against Pakistan.Infect even after all the stupid stuff by Indian Giverment I gve ful credit to Dalmiya and gen.Taufiq to have great relations between BCC1 In PCB.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=3993446

APE TOWN: The International Cricket Council has taken a strong view of the India’s continued refusal to play cricket against Pakistan and has threatened severe action if the cricket-specific policy was not changed.

The 13-member all powerful Executive Board of ICC, during its two-day meeting here, discussed among other things the deadlocked cricketing relations between the two powers of the sub-continent and expressed its concern, ICC sources said.

Some members of the Board even suggested harsh punishment against the Indian Cricket Board for repeatedly refusing to play against Pakistan.

The Board expressed concern that only the game of cricket was singled out by the Indian side as it continued to play other sports with Pakistan.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which was represented by its President Jagmohan Dalmiya in the Board, expressed helplessness in the matter saying that it had to depend on permission from the Government of India for playing against Pakistan.

The English Cricket Board even suggested that BCCI should be boycotted by all the Test playing nations while New Zealand proposed a hefty financial penalty.

On the request of Dalmiya, the Board allowed him time to speak to Indian government officials and convey the feelings of ICC members while also empowering ICC Chairman Malcolm Gray and Chief Executive Malcolm Speed to meet Indian officials to break the deadlock.

When asked to comment on the issue, Dalmiya said that he would not be able to say anthing unless he spoke to the Indian government on the issue.

Dalmiya said, ICC continued to be the parent body and all members would work under it. There was no question of scoring points against any one.

Incidentally, ICC Chairman Malcolm Gray had sought an exclusive one-on-one meeting with Dalmiya just before the Executive Board meeting here to resolve the crisis. But apparently no decision could be reached there and it was left to the all powerful board to take the decision.

However, the ruling by Speed to strip the third Test between South Africa and India at Centurion in November of its official status was upheld without an objection from any member of the board, according to a statement issued after the meeting.

Speed’s decision that South Africa won what became a two-match series by one match to nil was confirmed.

The ICC also announced that its board had accepted a detailed proposal by chief executive Malcolm Speed to revise the role of match referees.

In future umpires will lay disciplinary charges which match referees will act upon. There will be a right of appeal against decisions about serious charges.

Referees will be able to explain their decisions to the media, which they cannot do under existing regulations.

“This matter has been a major issue for the ICC and its members over the past five months. It is a significant achievement that a solution has been reached by all directors that is both business-like and practical,” ICC president Malcolm Gray said.

The ICC also endorsed a proposal for a four-level disciplinary code to achieve consistency in charges and penalties.

Offences will be divided into four categories, with a varying severity of penalties. A first-time level one breach for dissent could be penalised with a minimum of a reprimand and a maximum of a fine of 50 percent of a match fee.

Repeat offenders will face level two charges and could be punished by a fine of a full match fee and suspension. Level four breaches, which would include threats and violence, will incur a minimum ban of five Tests or 10 one-day internationals with a maximum of a life ban.

Beloff was named as the successor to Hugh Griffiths as chairman of the ICC code of conduct commission. As a member of the Court for Arbitration for Sport he has been involved with arbitration panels for the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games and the 1999 Commonwealth Games.

The London-based ICC had come under severe pressure from most of the full members of the board which comprises ten Test playing countries and three associate members on the Mike Denness issue and the role of referees in general.

In fact, four full members from Asia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, had asked ICC to change the panel in a joint resolution passed after the Asian Cricket Council meeting at Sharjah last month.