BCCI refuses to sign ICC agreement

The Board of Control for Cricket in India and the ICC could be headed for another standoff as the Indian board announced that it could not sign the Members' Participation Agreement that the ICC has framed, in its existing form.

N Srinivasan, honourary treasurer of the BCCI, addressing the media after the 77th Annual General Meeting said, "The BCCI cannot sign the Members' Participation Agreement between 2008 and 2015. It's an important subject and we have said we cannot sign it in its present form. It was sent [to us] sometime back. The members unanimously decided that the BCCI could not sign the MPA in its present form. A committee has been formed to determine the minimum acceptable parameters, and this will be presented to the president of the board."

Srinivasan did not reveal a deadline for this, but said that the committee was asked to prepare its recommendations as soon as possible. "The BCCI has already informed the ICC that it has to be put before all our members and we have taken a decision today," he added.

All countries taking part in ICC events, like the Champions Trophy or the World Cup, are required to sign the MPA, which lays down several crucial guidelines and restrictions, and deals with issues like ambush marketing. When asked if India was the only country to refuse to sign the MPA, Srinivasan replied, "possibly."

He refused to go into specifics when queried about what aspects of the MPA in its current form were unacceptable, only saying there were "marketing issues."

The BCCI committee that will look into this matter comprises Lalit Modi, Inderjit Singh Bindra, N Srinivasan, Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shah.