From : The Nation 25-04-2009
Security threats in India can’t be equated with Pakistan : ICC
Published : April 25, 2009
LAHORE - ICC chairman David Morgan remains confident that the World Cup 2011 will still be held on the subcontinent, believing the security threats in India should not be equated to those in Pakistan, reports received here said.
The ICC last week removed Pakistan as a co-host of the World Cup, leaving India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as the joint hosts.
Morgan sees a future where security is no longer the sport’s burning issue, describing himself as an optimist.
India is a vast country, so to talk about the number of terrorist attacks in India and compare it with the number in Pakistan is not really drawing a fair comparison, he said.
Morgan cited the ICC’s stripping of Pakistan’s hosting rights as proof they would act decisively if expert advice indicated they should.
“We’ve learnt from our mistakes, we’ve been tardy in our taking of difficult decisions in the past, we took a difficult decision this last weekend and I’m sure that it is one that needed to be taken,” The Herald Sun quoted Morgan, as saying.
Morgan further said that it would be a mistake to suppose cricket’s security concerns are limited to the subcontinent.
If you go back to the last time Australia were in the United Kingdom, 2005, the Ashes series, Australia were at Headingley, at Leeds, playing a one-day international against England and the London bombings were taking place, he added.
Morgan has no doubt Pakistan cricket will survive the dual setbacks of no live cricket for their fans and the associated loss of revenue, saying Australia’s tour of the UAE was an important first step.There are also negotiations underway aimed at working out how to ease Pakistan cricket’s financial burden. Morgan believes Pakistan will eventually play at home again.
I’m not a pessimist, I’m an optimist, I don’t believe that safety and security is going to be the issue it is today forever and ever.
Drawing a parallel with a situation linked to his own homeland, the Englishman said the achievement of relative peace in Northern Ireland after years of political and religious conflict showed such issues could be resolved.