Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Najam Sethi has said that if Pakistan boycotts the upcoming Asia Cup 2023, then it stands to lose $3 million in revenues from the tournament, as India has not budged from its stance of not traveling to Pakistan are the hosts.
Pakistan is insisting on having India come to Pakistan and play in the ACC tournament, while the BCCI back in October 2022 declared that they will not send the Indian team to the neighboring country due to security reasons.
Sethi said that Pakistan was willing to bear this loss of revenue as it was "a matter of principle" as far as the hosting rights of the Asia Cup are concerned.
Sethi had proposed a "hybrid model" to host the Asia Cup where India will play its matches at an offshore venue, while Pakistan plays its games at home. The final will be played depending on whether India qualifies for the summit clash or not.
"We have made it very clear that unless the Asia Cup is held on a hybrid model as we have proposed, that is India playing its matches at an offshore venue and Pakistan hosting the remaining games at home we will not accept any other schedule and neither play," he was quoted as saying by PTI.
India has big clout: PCB chairman Najam Sethi on Asia Cup 2023 hosting issue
"We will not lose our hosting rights. Security is no excuse for them now and we have told them if their government is not giving them clearance to play in Pakistan show us some written proof of this. When all other teams including Australia, England, and New Zealand are playing in Pakistan without any issues there should be no security concerns for India to tour Pakistan,” Sethi added.
The PCB chairman stressed that 80 percent of the revenues earned by the Asian Cricket Council came from Pakistan and India matches. He was also asked if ACC accepting the hybrid model for Asia Cup will have a bearing on the upcoming ICC World Cup in India as well.
Also, he was asked about Pakistan potentially refusing to play in India in the World Cup, Sethi said that relations with ICC were different and in such a scenario the relations could be affected negatively.
(PTI inputs)
