Muthaiah repudiates ICC contract

Former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India A C Muthaiah added a new twist to the existing controversy when he said the disputed clause was not part of the agreement signed by him on behalf of the BCCI in 2000.

International Cricket Council CEO Malcolm Speed and other officials had, a day earlier, said that all boards had agreed to the protectionist clause in the contract, in 2000.

Not so, says Muthaiah.

"When the contract was signed, this particular clause was not there. Perhaps it was included later, I was not aware of that," the former cricket board chief told PTI in Chennai.

Muthiah has in some quarters come in for much flak for having signed the agreement.

His clarification received the support of then BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele who said, "When the agreement was signed, the exclusivity was supposed to be during a particular tournament. But now they (ICC) are saying it would cover a month before and after the tournament."

The statements by the then cricket board president and secretary open up a whole new Pandora's Box. Did the boards back in 2000 agree to one thing, and the ICC the foist something completely different?

At the time of writing this, the governing body has not responded to Muthaiah's statement.

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