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| | Monday, 1 July, 2002, 17:03 GMT 18:03 UK ICC stall on Mandela move Mandela enjoys support all over the world The International Cricket Council (ICC) is still considering approaching former South African president Nelson Mandela to help restore cricketing relations between India and Pakistan. More than three months have passed since the plan was first mooted, but the former South African president has still not received any official overtures from the ICC on the issue. India's decision not to play against their arch-rivals and neighbours was discussed at length during the ICC executive board meeting in London last week. "The ICC will try through Nelson Mandela to convince India ending cricket boycott of Pakistan," the Asian Cricket Council's new chief Ali Asghar told BBC Sport Online. Pakistan has refused to sign up to the ICC's 10-year cricket calendar unless the world body forces India to end their two-year boycott of Pakistan. The Indian government has refused allowing its cricket team to play with Pakistan anywhere in the world accusing Pakistan of sponsoring cross-border terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge.
Asghar said the subcontinent constituted a huge chunk of the world population with most of the cricket's revenue being generated in that part of the world. "So, the resumption of cricket between India and Pakistan is an issue of immense importance even for the ICC and the ACC," he said. The ICC hopes that Nelson Mandela could play a useful role because of the goodwill he enjoys in the two countries. The ICC's media spokesman Mark Harrison said: "Yes, this was discussed in the ICC meeting but I cannot update it further. "The ICC is doing its best to get cricketing ties resumed between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board's director Munawwar Rana said the suggestion had come up for the first time during the ICC's Cape Town meeting in March this year. He said the Cape Town meeting had decided to involve Nelson Mandela at an appropriate moment, along with the Indian Cricket Board, to persuade the Indian government to end the Pakistan boycott. "But since than, the political scene in the subcontinent has worsened further while the Indian board has also made little preparations," Rana said. Mandela is a keen follower of South African cricket and even telephoned captain Mark Boucher to pass on a message of support during the third Test in Durban in March this year. South Africa went on to win the match having lost the series 2-0. | |
See also:  26 May 02 | Cricket 08 Mar 02 | Cricket 31 Jan 02 | Cricket 14 Jul 01 | Cricket 23 May 01 | South Asia Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Cricket stories now: Links to more Cricket stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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