Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
West Indies Cricket Board chief executive Dr Donald Peters. - File
CHIEF EXECUTIVE of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Donald Peters, yesterday refuted a report in an Indian paper that the body had requested a US$3 million loan from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to "stay above water".
Dire financial straits
The report, in the The Hindustan Times, said the regional body was in such dire straits that the loan was needed to keep creditors at bay and run the ICC Future Tours programme on schedule.
"There is no truth to any claims of us being bankrupt, that could not be further from the truth," Peters told The Gleaner yesterday.
"With a lot of our budget being based on projected revenue, what we have asked for is an advance. We asked the ICC if we could get our money this year but we are by no means in dire financial straits," he said.
Peters went on to explain that a part of the issue was the postponement of the eight-nation Champions Trophy, originally scheduled for September 12 of this year but moved to October of next year due to security concerns with host country Pakistan.
The WICB is expected to receive about US$2.8 million from the Champions Trophy. Another tournament to be played in England next year, the World Twenty20, is expected to generate US$2.7 million.
Twenty20 for 20
According to the Times article, the regional body is expected to forgo its share of the Stanford Twenty20 for 20 jackpot, a hefty US$3.5 million, based on an agreement to pay the expenses incurred from a costly legal battle with regional sponsors Digicel.
The company had demanded a share of marketing and publicity from the tournament based on its status as regional sponsors. That claim was upheld in October by the London High Court, which agreed that the sanctioning of the Stanford tournament put the WICB in breach of its contract with Digicel.
Peters yesterday said he could not comment on that particular issue.
"We won't know all the details as yet, so I wouldn't be able to comment on that issue as the process of arbitration is yet to be completed," he said.
