The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), nursing insult to an injury inflicted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) at the latter's board meeting in Dubai on Wednesday, is all set to send a notice to the game's governing body next month.
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The BCCI state units have called for a Special General Meeting (SGM) on May 7 when the decision to send the notice to the ICC - seeking to bring the parent body's attention to the Members Participation Agreement (MPA), which is a legally binding document in the international courts of law - will be officially taken.
While the state units are looking forward to the SGM where they will have the opportunity to make their opinions vocal, the industry of cricket is already losing sleep. The ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled to begin on June 2, exactly 32 days from now, and the global broadcaster of the governing body, Star TV, is worried about the ongoing fracas.
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"We are confident that BCCI and ICC will resolve the issues around the tournament," Sanjay Gupta, managing director at Star India told TOI on Friday.
The broadcaster is not jumping the gun right now. Instead, it is hoping that all parties will resolve differences as soon as possible for cricket to go ahead. "There is huge excitement and Indian fans are eagerly waiting for the game. It has never looked better," Gupta added.
There's no word yet on when the Indian team will be announced for the tournament. The other participating boards have already submitted their lists Sources in ICC say that while the deadline to submit team lists which ended on April 25 - is not so crucial, "it is essential to have team lists in place by, let's say two weeks ahead of the tournament which we call the support period."
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It is during this period that players can be made available for all stakeholders where commercial engagements, brand activation and other promotional arrangements are concerned.
CVL Srinivas, CEO South Asia at Group M, says he's "hoping things get resolved very soon". The head of the media buying company, which is closely involved with cricket among other properties, is clearly concerned.
"The stakes are pretty high for everybody involved in this. At the end of the day, India is a powerhouse when it comes to cricket. Advertising revenue depends a lot on India's participation. Advertiser interest will certainly not be the same without India around," says Srinivas.
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OPPO, one of the commercial partners of the ICC, also happens to be the new jersey sponsor of the Indian team, the rights of which they bought last month at Rs 1100 crore.
The Chinese mobile maker is not willing to make a comment right now, and neither is BCCI, but should India pull out of the Champions Trophy , the leading sponsor will clearly be displeased at a lost opportunity.