DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tues­day dismissed a compensation claim by Pakistan over India’s refusal to honour an agreement to play bilateral series.

“Following a three-day hearing and having considered detailed oral and written submissions, the Dispute Panel has dismissed the PCB’s claim against the BCCI,” the ICC said in a statement.

The decision cannot be appealed.

The dispute centred on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) according to which India and Pakistan had agreed to play six bilateral series between 2015-2023, four of which would be hosted by Pakistan.

The PCB had filed a compensation claim of $70 million.

But India refused to play Pakistan citing the Indian government’s objections due to strained relations with Pakistan.

According to the agreement, the six tours would include up to 14 Tests, 30 one-days and 12 Twenty20 internationals.

The MoU was a reward to Pakistan for backing the “Big Three” plan according to which India, Australia and England had the major share of power and revenues of world cricket.

However, that arrangement fell apart and the BCCI refused to accept the MoU as a legal document, dismissing it as a “piece of paper”.

India cut off cricket ties with Pakistan after the 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai which left more than 160 people killed.

The two sides have not played a full series since Pakistan’s tour of India in 2007.

Pakistan toured India for a limited-overs series with two Twenty20s and three one-day internationals from December 2012-January 2013 but full ties were not restored.

After negotiations about the proposed tours failed, the PCB filed a notice of dispute with the ICC resolution committee in November last year, claiming the 70 million dollars in compensation.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) welcomed the decision, saying it had always maintained that the MoU was non-binding and that it “merely expressed an intention to play”.

“The BCCI wholeheartedly welcomes the decision of the Dispute Panel. The BCCI will now move the Dispute Panel to recover its legal cost from the PCB,” it said in a press release.

Our Sports Reporter from Lahore adds: The PCB on Tuesday expressed disappointment over the decision of ICC’s Panel of Dispute Resolution Committee to reject claims of approximately $69 million against its Indian counterpart BCCI as compensation for not resuming the bilateral series with Pakistan despite signing an MoU to this effect in 2014. The PCB said it will determine its future course of action.

Soon after the ICC decision on Tuesday, the PCB issued the following statement: “In relation to the proceedings brought by PCB against BCCI, the PCB notes with regret the decision of the Disputes Panel of the ICC’s Dispute Resolution Committee. In 2017, PCB had claimed that BCCI had breached an agreement that it had signed with PCB on 9th April 2014 and had referred the matter to ICC’s Disputes Panel.

Following a lengthy disputes resolution process, the announcement of the decision today has come as a disappointment for PCB.

‘PCB will determine its future course of action in this regard after detailed deliberations and consultation with its stakeholders,” it concluded.

The PCB and the BCCI signed a MoU way back in 2014 according to which both the neigbouring countries will resume the bilateral cricket series and they will play six series from 2015 to 2023.

And in return the BCCI asked PCB to sign the Big Three formula which gave Australia, England and India a larger share from the income of the ICC.

However, soon after the PCB had signed the documents to support the Big Three formula, the BCCI turned back on its word and refused to make any effort to resume the bilateral series, citing the disapproval of Indian government for resumption of the series.

Ex-PCB chairman Najam Sethi then held a meeting with the BCCI officials in Dubai in a bid to resolve the issue amicably. However, infuriated by BCCI’s constant refusal to abide by the MoUs signed, Sethi decided to take the case to the ICC to resolve the issue and asked for a compensation of US$69 million which Pakistan could have earned from playing the agreed six series against India, four as hosts and two as visitors.

The incumbent chairman PCB Ehsan Mani, though, has not been supportive of the move from his predecessor Sethi of filing the case against BCCI and had mentioned that he would have settled for dialogue to resolve the long-standing dispute with India.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2018