PCB's legal notice to ICC hints at discrimination

The legal firm hired by Pakistan Cricket Board has cited example of several terror incidents in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, besides quoting a travel advisory issued by England and the Commonwealth that advises people against touring the countries, in its notice sent to the ICC.

PCB earlier served a legal notice to the International Cricket Council challenging their decision of shifting 2011 World Cup matches out of the country due to security concern.

According to the notice sent to the ICC President David Morgan and Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat by the DLF Piper law firm, other co-hosts of the quadrennial event are also not safe from terrorist activities and the ICC's decision is disproportionate, illegal and discriminatory against Pakistan.

Besides, the law firm has also suggested that the ICC Executive Board might have not acted in accordance with its own regulations while deciding to shift the World Cup matches from Pakistan.

The notice, a copy of which is available with PTI, says that its client PCB was given no notice of intention to remove them as co-hosts prior to the Executive Board meeting on April 17 in Dubai nor given an opportunity to examine if the situation was remediable.

"Our client PCB considers this as the appropriate time when a decision should have been taken whether it could stage the matches it had agreed to," the notice said.

The notice states that PCB has six concerns about the legality of the ICC's decision, one of which being under host agreement of the World Cup of April 2006, only the ICC Development International Limited can exercise the power to relocate the event or any part thereof to a site other than host stadium.

"Not only would the decision be taken on the basis of a proper security expert report concerning all ICC members host venues but it would have been taken closer to the matches. This is important when the security situation in all host venues is in a flux," the notice stated.

The highest governing body of cricket last month decided to withdraw hosting right of the tournament from Pakistan in the wake of terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore that left six cricketers injured.