LONDON, Nov 22: The International Cricket Council (ICC) said it would refuse to recognise the third Test between South Africa and India if match referee Mike Denness was forced to stand down.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said on Thursday: “Mike Denness was properly appointed by the ICC for this series and approved by both South Africa and India. No cricket board has the authority to remove Mr Denness from his position as match referee.

“The ICC cannot accede to demands for his removal. To remove him under this kind of pressure would be to disregard the rules agreed by all member countries and set an unacceptable future precedent.”

The ICC, the sport’s world governing body, said in a statement the match would not go into the record books if it went ahead without Denness. “It would not be recognised by the ICC as a Test match,” it said.

Meanwhile, Indian cricket board president Jagmohan Dalmiya said in Kolkata any decision on the status of the Test could only made by a majority decision of the ICC’s executive board.

“Whether it is official or unofficial is governed by certain parameters. This can be decided only by the majority of the ICC’s executive board,” Dalmiya told Reuters.

“The third match will commence as scheduled tomorrow (Friday),” Dalmiya, the previous head of the ICC before he stood down last year, earlier told a news conference.

He said the appointment of match referees depended on the mutual consent of the national boards involved.

“We (Indian and South African cricket boards) feel that it qualifies to be an official test match,” he said.

DALMIYA SAID: “The ICC (International Cricket Council) did not understand the seriousness of the situation. The decisions were extraordinarily harsh. We needed some accommodation.”