BCCI pads up for crucial meet on April 24 over distribution of revenue

It will determine whether BCCI will be at receiving end of new revenue model proposed by ICC

The stage is set for a battle of sorts over the distribution of revenue from cricket, considered one of the most marketable sports in the world. At the centre of the conflict is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which is the country’s apex cricketing body, and the International Cricket Council (ICC), the global governing body for cricket.

On April 24, a meeting of the chief executives committee (CEC) of the ICC member boards will be held. Coming after the February 4 board meeting of the ICC, this meeting will in many respects, say sources, determine whether the BCCI will be at the receiving end of the new revenue model proposed by the ICC.  

The model, first proposed in the February 4 board meet of the ICC, seeks a fair distribution of cricket revenues among member boards against the current practice of a few, including India, Australia and England walking away with the lion’s share. India had vehemently opposed the model in February saying it wasn’t fair to it, since it contributed the most in terms of cricket revenues to the global body.

At stake here is revenue nearly worth Rs 1,200-1,300 crore that BCCI will stand to lose if the proposed model goes through. The earlier model negotiated when N Srinivasan was the ICC chairman sought to give BCCI a revenue of nearly Rs 3,000 crore over an eight-year period stretching from 2015-2023 as a key ICC member. The revised model sees BCCI’s share down to nearly Rs 1,700 crore, which is unacceptable to it. Sources in the know told Business Standard that the BCCI has been talking to member boards to desist from voting in favour of the revised model. In February, Sri Lanka had voted against the revenue model along with India, indicating on how whose side it was. Bangladesh and Zimbabwe had abstained. Since then, some ground has been covered by the BCCI, say sources, with the court- appointed committee of administrators set up to run the world’s richest cricketing body meeting the Bangladesh and Zimbabwe cricket boards to vote against the new revenue model.

ICC will require eight members to vote in favour of its proposal if the new model has to get through.