Karachi: “Domestic political issues” might prevent Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi from attending the ICC’s Executive Board meeting in Dubai where the BCCI is set to raise the issue of the Asia Cup trophy not being presented to India.
The four-day meeting began Tuesday, and Naqvi, who is also the chairman of the Asian Cricket Council, was to face the BCCI’s ire for not handing the trophy after the winning players refused to accept it from him due to his anti-India statements.
The PCB source did not specify the exact political issues that would come in the way of his attendance. Naqvi also holds the interior minister’s position in his country and has not attended ICC meetings after Jay Shah was elected Chairman of the world body last year.
A source in the PCB said that the Board’s Chief Operating Officer, Sumair Syed, will attend the chief executives’ meeting, and in case Naqvi is unable to travel to Dubai, he could represent Pakistan in the all-important board meeting November 7.
The Asia Cup Trophy lies locked in the Asian Cricket Council headquarters in Dubai despite the final being held back in late September.
The source said there was also a likelihood of Naqvi joining the board meeting remotely.
The Pakistan minister was at the centre of the trophy controversy when he had it sent to the ACC secretariat in Dubai. He has since insisted that the Indian team must accept the trophy from him and has ordered the ACC staff not to move the silverware without his permission.
The BCCI wrote a letter to the ACC asking for the trophy to be sent to Mumbai, but Naqvi is insisting that it will be handed over to a BCCI representative and a member of the Indian team only by him at a function in Dubai November 10.
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