LONDON, April 27: England could be stripped of the lucrative World Twenty20 Championship if Zimbabwe Cricket Union chairman Peter Chingoka is denied a visa for the event, International Cricket Council (ICC) president-elect David Morgan warned on Sunday.

“It could happen,” Morgan, the former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, told The Observer.

“The chairman of Zimbabwe cricket, whoever that may be, will want to come to see the truly wonderful event. My own opinion is that it will go ahead and be staged in England.”

Chingoka was refused a visa to attend umpire Darrell Hair’s employment tribunal in London last September in a hardening of the British government’s stance over the regime of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe.

Chingoka’s close ties to Mugabe are believed to have been behind the refusal.

Zimbabwe’s cricketers are due to tour England early next season, before the second edition of the World Twenty20 Championship in June.

Asked if it would not be better all round if Chingoka resigned, Morgan said: “The position of the chairman of Zimbabwe cricket is for those who appoint that person in Zimbabwe. It is not an issue for the International Cricket Council.”—AFP