English county teams will be barred from this year's multi-million dollar Twenty20 Champions League if they contain players from the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL), the Board of Control for Cricket in India said on Sunday.
The competition, which follows the launch of the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year, was to originally feature two teams each from India, England [Images], Australia and South Africa.
"The working committee approved the proposal to jointly organise the Champions Twenty20 tournament in September-October involving Australia, South Africa, India and Pakistan," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement.
"Clubs from England who qualify can play provided the teams do not include players who are in the ICL," the statement added.
Organised by the BCCI, the event will be staged in India from September 29 to October 8.
IPL chief Lalit Modi told reporters: "The BCCI has made its position clear that it will not host or play in tournaments which have ICL players in it."
© Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
|