LEGAL DISPUTE

ICC dispute panel asks PCB to pay 60% of BCCI's legal costs

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

the PCB had claimed damages to the tune of USD 70 million from BCCI for not fulfilling the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two boards in 2014 © Getty

The International Cricket Council's Dispute Resolution Panel, on Wednesday (December 19), ordered the Pakistan Cricket Board to pay 60% (approximately USD 2 million) of the legal costs incurred by the Board of Control for Cricket in India while presenting its case in relation to compensation damages claimed by their neighbours.

The Dispute Panel noted that the PCB should pay 60 per cent of: "(a) the [BCCI's] Claimed Costs; and (b) the administrative costs and expenses of the Panel which fall within the scope of paragraph 11.4 of the T/R (including, without limitation, the fees of the Tribunal members, and the costs and expenses they incurred in relation to this matter), the figure whereof is to be supplied to the PCB by the ICC".

"For the BCCI, the victor in the arbitration, to be deprived of all its costs would appear to the Panel to be inappropriate, where the BCCI too had disputed the claim in good faith," the panel said.

In a release the Pakistan board observed: "The PCB notes the ICC Dispute Panel's decision on BCCI's claims for their legal expense incurred on the PCB-BCCI dispute. The award of significantly lesser costs than claimed by BCCI reflects that PCB's case had merits. The PCB, however, reiterates its disappointment in the original decision/award given against it."

Last month, a committee headed by Hon. Michael Beloff QC, an English barrister and a member of Blackstone Chambers, that also included Jan Paulsson and Annabelle Bennett, had rejectedPCB's compensation claim. In the hearing that took place between October 1 to 3 in Dubai, the PCB had claimed damages to the tune of USD 70 million from BCCI for not fulfilling the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two boards in 2014 to play six bilateral series against each other over the period of eight years between 2015 and 2023. The issue arose on the back of India refusing to play any bilateral cricket with Pakistan as a result of political tension and the lack of government clearance despite the MoU being signed.

As is the course of action in most of the arbitration cases, the BCCI, the winning party, had stated that they would approach the governing body to recover legal costs it had incurred while presenting its case before the panel.

"The BCCI wholeheartedly welcomes the decision of the Dispute Panel. The BCCI will now move the Dispute Panel to recover its legal cost from the PCB," the board had noted.

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