HONG KONG - Cricket's governing body on Thursday banned countries
from appointing politicians to national boards, vowing to free the
sport from undue government influence.
The International Cricket
Council, meeting in Hong Kong, said it had made the decision to uphold
"the important principle of free elections and the independence" of the
sport.
"It was agreed that all member boards must implement the
provisions before annual conference June 2012 and a further 12 months
-- to June 2013 -- would be allowed before any sanctions be
considered," the ICC said in a statement.
The reform, which
allows the ICC to suspend a member country in the event of government
interference in the running of a national cricket board, will be hugely
controversial in Pakistan, where the president is the cricket board's
patron. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will also be hit by the change.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could not immediately be reached for comment.
Chairman
Ijaz Butt has been criticised by former players, politicians and media
for being a political appointee of the ruling Pakistan People's Party.
The
PCB has already sent a legal notice to the ICC on the amendment and has
threatened legal action if the constitution is changed.
The
decision was taken at a meeting of the ICC's full council after four
days of talks between the chief executives' committee and executive
board at Hong Kong hotels.
ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said
the reform was needed to bring cricket into line with standards
practised in other global sports.
Football's governing body FIFA
can suspend national associations if they are tainted by government
interference. Iraq is only just emerging from two years in the
footballing wilderness after running afoul of the FIFA rules.
"This
is a significant step towards achieving best practice and together with
the independent governance review, I am excited by the commitment of
the ICC to introduce best possible corporate governance," Lorgat said.
The
South African said the ICC had "sensed over a while" that government
agencies were interfering in the affairs of some cricket boards, but
did not name those nations.
"I do believe it is a step in the
right direction, and we will work with those boards that need to
unravel themselves from government departments however they may be
structured," he said.
But Lorgat added that it was a "complex
topic", and said this was why boards had been given another 12 months
to get their affairs into order.
Rawalpindi-born former ICC president Ehsan Mani is backing the reform, Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.
"This
is a good and constructive move by the ICC and I think Pakistan, India,
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh boards stand to gain the most from it because
these are the countries where government interference in cricket
affairs is obvious," Mani, the ICC's president from 2003 to 06, was
quoted as saying. AFP
