ICC hold good World Cup talks with Pakistan

Article Published: Wednesday 29 July 2009
Written by: Administrator
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International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt reported "good progress" in a meeting to resolve the ongoing dispute between the two sides over the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

The two men met at the ICC's headquarters in Dubai on Tuesday, part of an ongoing process to resolve the disagreement over the location of the 14 matches originally scheduled to be played in Pakistan, as well as the venue for the tournament secretariat, which was set to be in Lahore.

Although there was no final resolution on the outstanding matters, Morgan and Butt were positive about their discussions and will now report back to their respective boards ahead of another meeting between the two men in the near future at a date and time to be confirmed.

In the meantime, the PCB agreed the legal proceedings it launched will continue to be adjourned pending those further discussions and, they hope, a resolution to the outstanding matters.

"I am pleased to have had the opportunity to meet with Ijaz this morning and we had a very positive 90-minute meeting," Morgan said. "We are making good progress on the issues of dispute between us.

"I will now report back to the other members of the ICC's Board on the nature of our discussions ahead of further talks between the two of us.

"On the basis of today's meeting I am confident we can bring this matter to resolution in the near future so that we can all focus on the key objective for the ICC and all its members - the staging of a successful ICC Cricket World Cup in the Asian sub-continent in 2011."

Butt said he was "grateful" that Morgan had taken the time to meet with him. "I am very encouraged by the discussions we have had," said Butt.

"The PCB is keen to settle this matter out of court as soon as possible and I believe we are making good progress towards doing exactly that.

"I will now report back to my board to inform them of developments and we look forward to further talks in the near future to bring this matter to resolution."