India in danger of losing hosting rights for T20 WC 2021 and WC 2023

As soon as the upcoming World Cup will get over, the BCCI will buckle up for a very busy five years. India is set to host the ICC World T20 and the ICC World Cup in 2021 and 2023 respectively and the BCCI is bound to start planning for the mega-events at the earliest. However, India’s hopes of hosting the global tournaments could take a big blow due to their government’s strict tax laws.

Usually, the ICC gets tax exemption from member nations for conducting global events. However, they were denied such luxury by the Indian government in 2016 when the nation had hosted the  World T20. As a result, the governing body of the game had suffered a big financial loss. Later it had demanded a staggering US$23m (roughly Rs 160 cr) from the BCCI or risk dire consequences.

Well, media reports now suggest that India are in danger of losing the hosting the rights because of the strict tax laws in the country. As of now, BCCI has just one choice – either bear huge tax liability or say no to hosting the ICC tournaments. According to DNA, the situation is still in BCCI’s control but the Indian board has got a subtle hint from the ICC to sort out the ‘tax problem’ before bidding for 2021 World T20 and 2023 World Cup.

“If ICC goes ahead with 2021 T20 and 2023 World Cup in India, it may have to cough up more than Rs 150 crore in taxes only,” an official was quoted as saying by the news outlet.

“Board (BCCI) has tried its best to reach out to the government. We have told ICC to wait till the next government is formed at the Centre before taking the talks further. But ICC chairman (Shashank Manohar) was categorical in saying that BCCI needs to pay all tax liabilities if talks with government do not yield any results after elections,” said a BCCI office-bearer.

It should be noted that tax problems have already cost India a major sporting event. The Formula One organisers had decided to pull out of India after just three seasons (2011-2013) due to the same problem.

Visa problems:

The BCCI can also come under fire if the government denies visas to Pakistani players in the wake of the Pulwama attack. Last month, two shooters and a coach from Pakistan were denied visas to compete at a World Cup shooting event in New Delhi. Later, the International Olympic Commission had announced a suspension of all discussions with India regarding rights to host any future sports and Olympic-related events in the country.

The BCCI had asked the ICC to ban Pakistan from the global events for harbouring terrorism. However,  BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has confirmed that ICC turned down any request of BCCI to ban Pakistan from the world body on the charges of terror links. And in case, India do not give visas to Pakistan players, the BCCI is likely to face some dire consequences including suspension.

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