Indian board was the only member to object against a new financial model
Dubai
The ICC’s new constitution moved a step closer to reality on a dramatic late afternoon in Dubai, as cricket’s Full Members exercised their collective will to outvote the BCCI.
The Indian board was the only member to object against a new financial model and was one of the only two countries to vote against the new governance changes. The finance model received a 9-1 vote in favour, while the governance structure was passed by an 8-2 margin.
It is understood that the second Full Member who voted against the governance changes had actually sought more time to gain clarity on certain proposals.
The BCCI was alone in the opposition, after its office bearers – the secretary Amitabh Choudhury and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry – had rejected the ICC’s settlement offer worth approximately $400 million – $100 million more the proposed $290 million – on Tuesday. The Indian board wanted $570 million, the share it was getting under the Big Three model.
The settlement offer had been made by ICC chairman Shashank Manohar to Amitabh Choudhury. Manohar was the head of the ICC working group that had prepared the proposed constitution, which comprises the finance and governance structure models.
The BCCI then approached most of the major Full Members with a counter offer: it gets $570 million but none of the other Full Members get anything less than what was stated in the new constitution.
The other Full Members rejected the BCCI’s offer, leaving Choudhry and Chaudhry in a tight position on Wednesday morning, hours before the ICC Board meeting. “The alternative left for them was to adopt the middle ground,” an official present in Dubai said. The BCCI was told that it would do well to consider Manohar’s offer. “It is INR 700 crore, and they were told to consider hard before making a move.”
