CAN CRICKET WORLD CUP 2023 BE MOVED OUT OF INDIA ?

A big question mark on the venue of cricket world cup still exists as the disagreements between the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are yet to resolve. The biggest event of the game is scheduled to be played from 10th of October 2023 in different venues of India.


As per the agreement, the BCCI was "obligated" to help the ICC (and all its commercial partners involved in the tournament) to secure the tax waiver making it mandatory for the host nation to get tax exemption form its own government which the BCCI is yet to get.

Did the same happen in the past ?

The same issue problem was faced when India hosted T20 cricket world cup in 2016 but failed to obtain the requisite tax exemption as the Indian government denied any such tax benefits for the event. This resulted in loss of US $22m to the BCCI and it was deducted as a tax surcharge from BCCI’s revenue share by the ICC. The same is still being pursued by BCCI with the ICC tribunal. it is feared that the International Cricket Council might have to face the same situation. The ESPNCricinfo quoted;

“The BCCI stands to lose between US$58-116 million from its share of the ICC's central revenue pool as a result of the tax imposed by the Indian government on the global cricket body for hosting the 2023 Men's ODI World Cup in India”

According to some media reports, the BCCI has informed the ICC about the situation that nothing can be done in this context and no such tax exemption can be expected.

What Options ICC has available ?

Foregoing in the view, the ICC has been left with three options either to persuade the BCCI to obtain the requisite tax exemption or shift the mega event to some other venue or the last option is to replicate the 2016 model and deduct the loss from BCCI tax share.

The replication of 2016 model can have legal disputes between the mighty BCCI and the ICC which both the bodies will try to avoid. However, the other two options also did not seem to be plausible as the tax exemption for the event in not in the offing hence making the hosting of the event in the doldrums.

What is next ?

The situation does not seem to be good neither for the governing bodies nor the sports lover people of the country. Indian government must handle the issue on priority basis in order to avoid shifting of the mega event somewhere else. 

India last time hosted the Cricket World Cup in 2011 with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as Co-hosts but this time India is the only host this time. The country also hosted T20 World Cup in 2016.