ICL mulls legal action over recognition

[shabbir]

MUMBAI, Feb 25 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - India's rebel Twenty20 league is considering legal action after failing in the latest bid for recognition because of staunch opposition by the Indian board, former India skipper Kapil Dev said on Wednesday.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) was unsuccessful in its bid to end a dispute between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian Cricket League (ICL) after a meeting held in Johannesburg on Monday proved fruitless.

"As a sportsman, I don't like matters of sport being decided in court, but with the talks failing (again), we may have no choice but to take recourse to law," Kapil Dev, chairman of the Indian Cricket League (ICL), told The Telegraph newspaper.

"I can't understand who has given the BCCI the right to be the sole authority for promoting cricket in India ... The ICL too is doing just that, so why should our boys be punished? That, to me, is not justice."

The ICL's application to be recognised as unofficial cricket would now be discussed at the ICC Board meeting in April.

The ICL, bankrolled by one of India's largest media firms, launched the league following India's triumph in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007.

It signed overseas players, particularly from Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh.

However the BCCI, concerned the league would undermine its position, refused to recognise it and persuaded other national boards to ban players who signed up.

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