July 24, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 20, 1429

LAHORE, July 23: International Cricket Council's (ICC) decision of holding a teleconference on Thursday over the all-important issue of finalising the Champions Trophy venue has rubbed Pakistan Cricket Board the wrong way.

Sources told Dawn on Wednesday that the PCB officials are not too hopeful about successfully pleading their case in Thursday’s teleconference and feel that a meeting at the ICC headquarters in Dubai would have brightened their chances of pulling off a verdict in their favour.

Sources said the PCB was of the view that ICC could have easily taken a decision on the Champions Trophy venue in its meeting held in Dubai last Sunday but unnecessarily deferred it by announcing that a Board meeting would be summoned later to decide on the matter.

And now, the world governing body has stumped the PCB by suddenly deciding to go for a teleconference, an option that was never discussed in Sunday’s meeting.

Sources further said that since many star players from the four reluctant countries could pull out from the event in case it was awarded to Pakistan, the marketing value of the event may take a nosedive which will not go down well with the ICC at this stage.

The PCB has assured the ICC of top-level security arrangements for the Champions Trophy in September but has, apparently, stopped short of giving definite guarantees for the safety of players.

While Sri Lanka — the official alternate venue for the mega event — is also experiencing some trouble in form of skirmishes between the rebel groups there, South Africa has emerged as a strong candidate for bagging the hosting rights of the Champions Trophy.

The PCB had pinned lot of hopes on getting enough votes in its favour in Thursday’s moot since Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh coupled with the West Indies and Zimbabwe could tilt the balance in its favour.

However, the sources said that the voting option may not be used at all and even if it is, the white countries could object over Bangladesh and Zimbabwe’s right to vote for a tournament where they did not feature among the stakeholders.

The PCB successfully organised the ninth Asia Cup in Karachi and Lahore early this month and earned accolades for the foolproof security arrangements from all the participating teams. The ICC also praised the arrangements but were made to review their decision on the Champions Trophy following a massive bomb blast in Islamabad and a series of blasts in Karachi on the day of the Asia Cup final.

The ICC has frequently been sending its security delegations to Pakistan this year but instead of reaching a decision on the mega event, has opted for a wait-and-see policy.

With less than 50 days to go for Champions Trophy, it is imperative that the ICC took a final decision this week because any further delay on the issue could create serious problems for the teams.