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India beside Pakistan

CRICINFO, undated
] The Interna-
CHAMPIONS tional Cricket
woph’ j Council board's
' discussion — via
a teleconference on Thursday - on the issue of Pakistan hosting the Champions Trophy is likely to see India resist any move to change the venue, though there is a growing fear of top players from non-Asian countries pulling out
The ICC will take a final decision which, if it cannot be reached via consensus, needs a7-3 vote.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India sees "no harm" in Pakistan hosting the tournament in September, Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said on Wednesday. “We are supporting Pakistan as the venue of the Champions Trophy,”
Shah told Cricinfo.
"Our Indian team had taken part in the Asia Cup without any incident. Besides, the report of the ICC's security consultants, which was presented during the briefing in Dubai (on Sunday) was positive. So the BCCI sees no harm in Pakistan hosting the tournament."
While players' associations from England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have warned of a pullout by cricketers who fear for their safety in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are learnt to be firmly behind the official host, which also seems to have gained the support of Cricket South Africa.
"We must give Pakistan every opportunity to host the tournament to the best of their ability," Norman Arend.se, the president of Cricket South Africa (CSA) told Independent
Online. "I'm inclined to support Pakistan's hosting of the tournament. I know it might sound easy for us as administrators to make such decisions as we stay home while the players go to Pakistan, but I assure you it is not so."
However. Tony Irish, the chief executive of the South Africa Cricketers' Association (SACA), said that there was a possibility of top players from his country pulling out of the tournament if it went ahead as scheduled (from September 11) in Pakistan. "I can't confirm this, but yes, there could be some players pulling out," Irish told Cricinfo.
Irish said that the players reiterated their concern at touring Pakistan after the SACA reported back to them on the ICC's security briefing in Dubai, which Irish
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attended. At the meeting, the players' representatives were told that the governing body or the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) couldn't give any foolproof security guarantees.
"We have serious concerns with die security situation in Pakistan, especially after the briefing in Dubai," Irish said.
Arcndse told Independent Online diat he was aware of SACA's views and would consult Logan Naidoo, the manager of the Soutii Africa team that toured Pakistan last year, and the rest of his board before the teleconference.