Latest reports suggest that some members have written to the apex body about huge expenses incurred during the 20-team tournament.
Several ICC board members are seemingly unhappy with the mismanagement of the budget and the hosting of the recently concluded 2024 T20 World Cup in the Americas and will take up the matter in the next annual meet in Colombo starting July 19. Per the latest reports, some members have written to the apex body about huge expenses incurred during the 20-team tournament.
The report, published in Times of India (TOI), reads that members have also questioned why New York, where a stadium was built from scratch and later dismantled, was allocated to host some of the marquee matches, including the big game between India and Pakistan.
Although the tournament was staged in the USA and the Caribbean, with West Indies hosting the Super 8 and knockout games, three venues in North America (in NY, Floria and Dallas) hosted 16 group stage games, including eight in New York.
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“The auditing is still on. There are assumptions that ICC may have incurred losses in ticketing as well in the USA leg. The tournament looked mismanaged. The performance of the New York stadium wasn’t up to the mark,” a source said, as quoted by TOI.
“The board will discuss how the organising committee may have overshot the allocated budget. It was always going to be a herculean task to take mainstream cricket to the USA. The ICC team has worked hard to conduct the tournament, but expenses need to be checked at the same time,” he continued.
Meanwhile, two senior ICC officials – Chris Tetley, the ICC Head of Events, and Claire Furlong, the General Manager of Marketing and Communications, have decided to tender their resignations but will be part of the annual meet in Colombo later this week.
Per the sources close to the information, both have been asked to stick around till the Women’s T20 World Cup in October later this year and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan; however, the ball is in the ICC’s court to take a call on this.
“There are back-to-back ICC events, which started with the ODI World Cup last year. Tetley and another executive were asked to stay on for a while to oversee a smooth transition. They may be asked to stay on till the Women’s T20 World Cup in Oct or the Champions Trophy in Feb. That call will be taken in ICC’s board meeting,” the source said.
Besides, the agenda of the top-tier meet will also be to finalise the venue for the Champions Trophy next year, with the Indian Govt. and the BCCI denying sending the team across the border for the eight-team tournament.
(With inputs from agencies)
