Sunday, July 18, 2004

ICC holding India to ransom ...

the ICC has warned that India may not get host ICC events including the Champions Trophy in 2006, if the tax laws are not amended. This means that we either bite the bullet and exempt cricket events from the appropriate taxes by making exceptions or forego the opportunity to host events. in my opinion, cricket is not a sport made in heaven, that it should be accorded special treatment by the government. its not even the national sport - so if there is going to be a change, it should be a real change in tax laws (and i cannot comment on whether that is good or not, since i dont know it). there is infact a third option, what if india refuses to comply and play in ICC events? from what i understand, about 60% of cricket's revenue comes from India - wouldnt the ICC want to not lose that by losing out on India participating in events? what is the policy on teams from other countries touring india? doesnt the ICC (or say the BCCI) pay taxes on income from those tours?

the ICC's obsession with money (a lot of which comes from indian consumers) might have more drama yet to unfold ...

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