July 23, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 19, 1429

KARACHI, July 22: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has refused to speculate on Pakistan hosting the Champions Trophy in September in the wake of security fears.

According to a spokesman of the game’s governing body, a final decision on the issue which has become a bone of contention with some of the participating teams will be taken on Thursday by a teleconference of the ICC executive board.

The spokesman, speaking on behalf of ICC’s Chief Executive Officer Haroon Lorgat, told Dawn on Tuesday that despite question marks on the security issue, Pakistan still remains favourite to host the Sept 11-28 tournament with matches scheduled for Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

“There is no point in speculating what may or may not happen at this stage because it is the ICC Board that will decide what happens,” the ICC spokesman said from Dubai.

“At this stage, as was made clear on Sunday, the tournament will be held in Pakistan until or unless a decision is made to alter that fact. Talk of what might or might not is premature. Let us get to the ICC Board meeting on Thursday, see what it decides and then respond accordingly.”

The spokesman further said that it was too early to say how the future of Pakistan as a host nation suffers if the upcoming Champions Trophy is moved elsewhere because Pakistan is one of the co-hosts of the 2011 Word Cup as well.

“Again, I repeat, it is premature to speculate about this because plenty could happen between now and then since the ICC World Cup in Asia is still three years away,” he pointed out.

The spokesman confirmed Sri Lanka is the reserved venue for the biannual tournament in case it is not staged Pakistan, despite the island being crippled by the ongoing fighting between Tamil Tigers and the government forces.

“Sri Lanka is the reserve venue and if the [ICC] Board were to decide that the tournament should be moved there, then the ICC’s management would ensure due diligence was done in terms of scoping out the venues and area,” he stated.

When asked as to why the world’s governing cricket body recently stated that it cannot guarantee the safety of players in Pakistan during the tournament, the official said: “The ICC is not an army or a police force. It is the world governing body for cricket.

“The military and police forces are the ones who protect individuals. Even those forces, however, cannot always legislate for a crazed individual.

“That was the point being made, hence the [ICC] media release on Sunday that referred to threats beyond the control of the PCB,” the spokesman clarified while referring to the ICC meeting at the weekend to inform stakeholders of the security arrangements made by Pakistan for the ninth Asia Cup recently and its plans for the Champions Trophy.

Defending champions Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa have all raised concerns over the security situation in Pakistan with some of their players indicating they would rather stay home than travel with their respective teams.

New Zealand, however, are slated to tour Pakistan ahead of the Champions Trophy for a three-match One-day International series.

They play in Multan on Aug 24 before heading off to Faisalabad for the remaining games on Aug 27 and 30.