The MoU is 'just a letter', not a formal 'contract', claims BCCI

The MoU is 'just a letter', not a formal 'contract', claims BCCI:

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday indicated that it wants to fulfil the commitment being made under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pakistani Cricket Board (PCB), however, the board needs approval from the Indian government before it can play Pakistan in a bilateral series, reported ESPNcricinfo.com. 

 

The BCCI secretary, however, claimed that the MoU was "just a letter" and not a formal "contract" and added that the board wanted to fulfil the commitment because it was written with the intent to do so, provided the government gave the go-ahead.

BCCI Secretary Amitabh Choudhary told ESPNcricinfo.com that no matter what the nature of its agreement with the PCB is, the board needs formal approval from the government.

PCB had sent the BCCI a notice under the ICC Dispute Resolution Committee's terms of reference last week for not fulfilling its commitment in accordance with a MoU signed in 2014.

India and Pakistan have not played a full series — apart from two T20Is and three ODIs in 2012 — since the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, which the Indian government blamed on terrorists based out of Pakistan, said the report.

Political relations between the countries remained strained as of today.

"I can assure you that this is a subject where the government has to accord permission," Choudhary said.

"I must inform you that the BCCI has already written to the government in March with regard to the FTP with Pakistan. Unless we hear from them, I cannot make a comment. As far as cricket concerned, if it is a contract, both would try to honour."

When Choudhary was asked if the MoU could be revoked in the absence of government permission, he said: "I don't remember the exact wordings but it is inherent. Honouring of it cannot happen without the government's permission. In any case, it was just a communication, it was just a letter from the secretary of BCCI. So it is not a formal contract as yet."

The BCCI secretary at that time was Sanjay Patel, who could not be reached for a comment.

Rajeev Shukla, the IPL chairman and a former board vice-president, said that the BCCI would not want to play the series at a neutral venue though.

"We have had a consistent policy that we will play on each other's soil," Shukla said. "Pakistan's security situation is not such where you can have a series on their soil. Only Zimbabwe has played a series and no other countries are touring Pakistan. They are not being able to provide adequate security. First you make your venues such where you can provide fool-proof security. And for India, the security concerns are even more. How can we risk our players?"

The PCB's position, however, is that it must host the first series between Pakistan and India, as stated in the MoU. The PCB has hosted its home series largely in the UAE ever since the Sri Lankan team was attacked in Pakistan in 2009.

Talking about the India-West Indies series at a neutral venue, Florida, recently, Shukla said those T20s were a home series for India, and the BCCI had staged the games in the USA to explore a new market.

PCB welcomes BCCI stance, insists agreement as a legal contract

PCB Executive Committee Chairman Najam Sethi, in his response to the BCCI's latest standing on the issue, said: "I am glad to know that Choudhary has reiterated a commitment to play. But we are treating the written agreement as a binding legal contract and not 'just as a letter'. So we intend to pursue this matter to a logical conclusion."

Najam Sethi was the PCB chairman when the MoU was signed in 2014 as part and parcel of the PCB's negotiations to enter the Big Three constitution.

"In fact, the contract specifically notes the ICC circumstances in which it was signed," he added.

Sethi pointed out that the security issue was a bogey because the series was envisaged in a mutually agreed third neutral country and not in Pakistan.