By IANS
Dubai : The International Cricket Council (ICC) Monday admitted it was "concerned" at a proposed Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies to be organised by American businessman Sir Allen Stanford next year.
"Our members have raised genuine concerns about the concept and have asked ICC to act as an intermediary and help manage discussions between Mr Stanford and the potential host of the matches, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)," ICC CEO Malcolm Speed said here.
The first Twenty20 Tournament is planned between Jan 25 and Feb 24. A total of 21 teams will vie for $1 million. Another tournament will be played in June next year.
"The members recognise the potential benefits of the tournament for the development of cricket in the West Indies. At the same time they wish to ensure that their participation in any event such as this will benefit as many of the game's stakeholders as possible to help facilitate its continuing strong growth," said Speed.
"They are keen to ensure any tournament is, wherever possible, consistent with the aims of the current Future Tours Program in terms of both player workload and the existing cap on Twenty20 Internationals (each team is limited to two per series, three per home season and seven per year, excluding ICC events)."
Speed said that the ICC members also wished to ensure any arrangement is consistent with the ICC's ongoing broadcasting agreement with ESPN STAR Sports governing multi-team events.
"Specifics such as dates for the tournament and which teams might take part were not discussed at the ICC Board meeting," he said.
"The key is to achieve a result that is in the best interests of the game as a whole and, to that end, discussions will continue ahead of the ICC Board's next meeting, set to take place in Dubai in late October."