While the razzmatazz of the just-concluded T20 World Cup might be waning, the real—grim battle for ICC lies elsewhere: in dealing with a certified financial anomaly, an outrageous cost overrun in the US leg of the mega event. Millions of dollars just seem vapourised into thin air; now, it’s left to an ICC investigation to get to the root of it all.
The newest developments in the saga have been pointed out thus: The centrepiece of the US leg was the ambitious Nassau County International Stadium, a brand new venue constructed near New York City in a staggering 106 days. This stadium hosted some of the most high-profile matches, including the India-Pakistan clash. However, building this temporary stadium in such a short time frame appears to be a major source of the financial woes.
The ICC had estimated a $40-50 million budget, of which $15 million was the budget for operational expenses and the rest -$30 million for the stadium itself. But gymnastics took a turn for the worse just before the tournament began: T20 World Cup USA Inc, the entity managing the US leg, requested an additional $20 million. This last-ditch request had ICC board members raising eyebrows over the same issue—why did no one flag it before?
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One official hastened to clarify that the $20 million was not exactly for overspending, but a loan for the management of cash flow. Very little could the explanation do to allay the fears. It had been reported that a number of ICC directors, among them CWI President Dr. Kishore Shallow and ICC Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja, had expressed their outrage at the overspending, which precipitated the loan request.
The ICC is setting up a major inquiry into a corruption scandal during the T20 World Cup 2024.https://t.co/dq2XeBxjzE#INDvsSL #KLRahul #Gambhir #HardikPandya #SuryakumarYadav #ChampionsTrophy
— CricInside365 (@CricInside365) July 17, 2024
For its part, the ICC board is very keen to grasp this financial mess. It will probe what went wrong in the US leg that led to such a huge escalation in costs, and it will try to seek accountability for this overspend.
It may be recalled that the US was initially said to be co-hosting the event along with the Cricket West Indies. But due to governance and financial issues dogging US Cricket, ICC simply took away the courtesy task of co-hosting from it. CWI stepped up as the solo host, and a non-profit venture, T20 World Cup USA Inc. was floated to look after the American leg.
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Event, but this financial controversy has surely cast a shadow over its accomplishment. The ICC has to do everything to see that transparency prevails and those responsible are brought into the spotlight. Cricket fans all over the world have the right to know how their game is being run, more so when millions of dollars go missing.
