ICC meeting ends inconclusively

KATHMANDU, July 28: International Cricket Council (ICC)’s meeting with the stakeholders of Nepali cricket ended inconclusively, prompting the world cricket governing body to take another step.

In the joint meeting held with National Sports Council (NSC), controversially elected Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and the ad hoc committee of the cricket governing body of Nepal, all sides struck to their previous stances giving continuity to the impasse.

ICC had suspended CAN owing to the controversial election and the subsequent formation of the ad hoc committee by the NSC. The three-member team of ICC had arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday to study the situation after the suspension of CAN.

CAN executive committee was elected controversially under the presidency of Chatur Bahadur Chand in mid-September. The NSC had formed an ad hoc committee under the presidency of Ramesh Silwal on January 3 claiming that the election was invalid. Few days later, Chand had registered the case at the Patan Appellate Court against the formation of the ad hoc committee naming the NSC as defendant. Responding to the case, the Court had asked both the bodies not to function until the next verdict. The case is still pending at the court. The NSC has been arguing that if Chand faction withdraws the case, it would begin afresh from zero level by including both sides. But the elected committee has been rejecting the offer.

“We repeated our old stand. We have proposed that if the case is withdrawn we would dissolve the committee we have formed and start from the zero level,” NSC Member-

Secretary Keshav Kumar Bista said, “But Chand fraction didn’t agree. They said that they need to discuss with their other members.”

General Secretary of Chand faction, Ashok Nath Pyakurel, said that the ICC could take new step as all the stakeholders did not unite. “We clearly said that we won’t withdraw the case until they dissolve the ad hoc committee,” Pyakurel said, adding.

The elected committee’s general secretary Pyakurel said, “ICC team have said that they can’t wait any longer in this way, which indicates that they are likely to form a new committee.”

ICC’s three-member delegation including Financial Manager Amar Sekh, Legal Department Chief Paul McMohan and Asian Development Manager Bandula Barnapura had met CAN’s ex-chairmen Binayaraj Pandey, Tanka Angbuhang, national coach

Jagat Tamata and captain Parash Khadka. Nepali stakeholders expects the ICC to make a decision on Nepal in their next meeting in October.