NEW DELHI, Sept 6: The row over India’s participation in next week’s Champions Trophy turned ugly Friday after cricket’s world governing body clashed with Indian officials over compensation demands.

With just six days remaining for the 12-nation tournament to open in Sri Lanka, it is still unclear whether India’s top stars will take part due to their refusal to sign sponsorship contracts.

Worse, a war of words broke out between the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that threatens to undermine the tournament itself.

BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said he had received a letter from ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed demanding damages of up to 26 million dollars if concessions were to be made to Indian players.

The ICC denied it had sought any compensation, but stressed that if the tournament’s official sponsors asked for damages in the wake of India’s star players not taking part, the buck would be passed to the BCCI.

Dalmiya has summoned an emergency meeting of BCCI’s top officials in New Delhi on Saturday amidst speculation the ICC was considering the option of cancelling the Champions Trophy event.

The latest twist in the ongoing row came after ICC’s Speed met India’s top players on Wednesday to convince them to take part in the tournament.

One report suggested the ICC had agreed to the Indians’ demand to scale down the clause which prohibits players from endorsing products rival to the tournament’s official sponsors till 30 days after the event.

But the ICC wanted the BCCI to take care of any damages asked by the sponsors, a demand Dalmiya turned down.

Speed said the ICC was not demanding any compensation from India. In a letter to Dalmiya, Speed said the ICC was faced with four options - the first being to cancel the tournament.

The second option was to proceed with the Champions Trophy after barring India for failing to field its best team. The third option was to continue with the event and accept a second-string Indian side.

The last alternative, Speed said, was to side with the Indian players and scale down the sponsorship contract - provided the Indian board paid any damage claimed by the sponsors.

The tournament is scheduled to be played in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo from Sept 12 to 29.—AFP