The upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023 which is to be hosted by India is likely to begin on October 5 with the final to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19.
As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, the BCCI has also shortlisted at least a dozen venues which include Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot, and Mumbai to host the 48 matches including three knockouts across the 46-day period.
Apart from the final, the BCCI is yet to finalize the venues for the other matches and the two or three cities where teams will play the warm-ups. The delay in finalizing the venues is due to the complications posed by the monsoon season receding at different points in different parts of India.
The delay has also been caused for two reasons, with BCCI needing necessary clearances from the Indian government, with the first being getting a tax exemption for the tournament, and visa clearance for the Pakistan team.
At the ICC's quarterly meetings last weekend, held in Dubai, the BCCI is learned to have assured the global body that visas for the Pakistan contingent will be cleared by the Indian government.
As for the tax exemption issue, the BCCI had signed an agreement with the ICC in 2014 as the hosts of three men's events were awarded to India: the 2016 T20 World Cup, the 2018 Champions Trophy (which was later played as the 2021 T20 World Cup and moved to UAE and Oman due to Covid pandemic) and the 2023 ODI World Cup.
As per the agreement, the BCCI was "obligated" to help the ICC (and all its commercial partners involved in the tournament) secure tax waivers.
However, last year, the Indian tax authorities informed the ICC that it would be charged a 20% tax order (excluding surcharges) for its broadcast revenue from the 2023 World Cup. In a note distributed to its associate members, the BCCI pointed out that any tax "incurred" by ICC would be "adjusted" against the Indian board's revenues from ICC's central revenue pool.
BCCI listed that ICC's estimated broadcasting income from the 2023 World Cup at USD 533.29 million. This means the "financial impact" it would suffer for a 10.92% tax order on that would be around UDS 58.23 million (corrected figure).
That would be almost double to approx. USD 116.47 million if the tax component were to be 21.84%, as desired by the Indian tax authorities.
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)
