PCB-BCCI legal battle begins in Dubai

The International Cricket Council (ICC)’s Dispute Panel started the hearing of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s compensation claim against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Dubai on Monday.

PCB has filed a $70 million compensation case against BCCI for not honouring the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed at the time of the formation of Big Three.

According to the MoU, the arch-rivals were supposed to play six bilateral series from 2015-2023, four of which were supposed to be hosted by Pakistan. But not a single series was played between both teams as the BCCI refused to play cricket with Pakistan after not getting the clearance from their federal government.

The three-member panel headed by Michael Beloff will hear the case over the three-day period after which the decision will announced, which will be non-appealable as per the Article 10.4 of the Terms of Reference of the ICC Disputes Resolution Committee. The other two members of the panel are Jan Paulsson and Dr. Annabelle Bennett.

Sethi to appear as PCB witness

According to the Daily Express, the PCB has also summoned former chairman Najam Sethi in the UAE to appear before the panel as witness.

Newly elected PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani, who recently took charge as the head of the board after Sethi resigned in August, expressed his desire to solve the case outside of the court, but believes there is no time left for talks.

“If I would have been in power at the time of the dispute, I would have tried to resolve it by mutual understanding,” said Mani while talking to Daily Express. “However, now the matter is far from over, and there is no time left for table talks.”