PCB And SLC Are Battling A Financial Dispute Over Asia Cup 2023

image-ls8n2hodPCB President Zaka Ashraf & Babar Azam (X.xom)

The Asia Cup 2023 was scheduled to take place in Pakistan but took place partly in Sri Lanka due to the geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan. While the majority of games took place in Sri Lanka, this has`led to financial disputes between the Pakistan Cricket Board and Sri Lanka. 

The Indian team with their optimal performances clinched the Asia Cup 2023 trophy, beating Sri Lanka comprehensively by ten wickets in the final. Mohammed Siraj bowled an amazing spell, picking up six wickets for just 21 runs.

While the cross-border tensions still prevail between India and Pakistan, the Pakistan team still visited India for the World Cup 2023 despite the Indian team denying to play Asia Cup 2023 in Pakistan. 

What is the reason behind their financial dispute?

The Asia Cup was jointly hosted by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board, with the PCB being the official host. Both of the cricket boards saw a surge in the expenses pertaining to the additional costs of hotels, flights and venues in both countries. 

In the meeting of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), PCB asked the ACC to bear the additional expenses saying that ACC tried to take away the hosting rights from Pakistan, to which Jay Shah, the president of ACC, replied that ACC wanted to transfer the hosting right to Sri Lanka but only the PCB wanted to host four games in Pakistan. 

On the other hand, the Sri Lankan Cricket Board stated that they will not be bearing the additional expenses as they were not the original hosts and they did not earn extra to bear the costs. The PCB were supposed to pay SLC $2,069,885 for the venues, but have only paid $281,700 and are asking ACC to share the additional costs and pay the hosting fee of 2.5 million dollars.