ICC dumps PCB’s $63m compensation claim against BCCI

Chandigarh, November 20

The long-drawn efforts of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to get a compensation of $63 million (roughly Indian Rs 450 crore) from its Indian counterpart have ended with PCB’s claim being dismissed by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

PCB had demanded $63m in compensation from the Indian board (BCCI), alleging that BCCI didn’t honour the MoU signed by the two boards in 2014, according to which the two teams were supposed to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023.

BCCI, on its part, had maintained that the MoU was not a binding contract. BCCI also contended that the MoU was anyway invalidated because Pakistan failed to honour a commitment to support a revenue model suggested by India at the ICC.

Non-appealable verdict

ICC’s Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) today dismissed PCB’s claim of compensation against BCCI, ruling that this verdict is binding and “non-appealable”. “The PCB’s claim is dismissed. Costs are reserved,” DRC stated in a one-line order at the end of a 26-page judgement. “The judgement is binding and non-appealable,” added the verdict of the three-member DRC, which comprised Michael J Beloff, Annabelle Bennett and Jan Paulsson. The hearings took place at ICC’s headquarters in Dubai on October 1-3.

Not legally binding

The main ground on which PCB’s claim was dismissed was that while the agreement signed by the two boards carried a “moral obligation”, it was not legally binding. 

ICC formed the DRC last year after PCB raised a compensation claim against BCCI for loss of revenues. PCB and BCCI had signed a one-page document in 2014 to play six bilateral series with each other between 2015 and 2023 on a home-and-away basis.

Today’s ICC verdict stated that the document signed between the two boards did not seem binding. “It follows inexorably that the PCB’s claim must fail. If there was no obligation on the BCCI to engage in the tours in either 2014 or 2015, its omission to do so was no breach and gave rise to no damages claim,” it said. 

The first of the proposed series was planned in November 2015 in the UAE but BCCI didn’t get permission from the government, which is mandatory for any bilateral cricketing engagement with Pakistan.

India’s former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid was among those who were cross-examined during the hearing. BCCI also said that bilateral cricket with Pakistan was subject to government clearance, which has not been forthcoming since the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

We’ll demand costs: Rai

“We are happy that our stand has been vindicated. What PCB termed as MoU was just a proposal letter,” BCCI’s Committee of Administrators chief Vinod Rai said.

Rai said BCCI will file a counter compensation case against PCB to demand the cost of arbitration. “We will make a presentation to the panel and demand entire cost of arbitration to be borne by the PCB,” he added.

PCB reacted to the verdict with disappointment. “The PCB notes with regret the decision of the Disputes Resolution Committee,” a PCB statement said. “PCB will determine its future course of action in this regard after detailed deliberations and consultations with its stakeholders.” — TNS, Agencies