ICC will uplift its ban on CAN soon: Minister for Sports

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Kathmandu / Feb 5 : Minister for Youth and Sports, Jagat Bishwokarma said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) would soon uplift its ban on Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).

He said that Nepal was working to form a five-member committee and hold elections for new representatives as per ICC’s directives. The ICC had suspended the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) in view of government interference in the board in April 2016.

In December 2015, Nepal’s National Sports Council (NSC) had formed an ad-hoc committee led by Ramesh Silwal and refused to give recognition to the elected committee under Chatur Bahadur Chand. Chand-led faction had filed a case against the NSC at the Supreme Court.

“In light of the ongoing court case involving the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and the Ad hoc Committee established by the Nepalese National Sports Council (NSC), which has led to a vacuum of cricket leadership in Nepal, the Board suspended the Membership of CAN for breach of Article 2.9 of the ICC’s Articles of Association, which prohibits government interference and requires free and fair elections,” the ICC had said in a statement.

The ICC board added that the suspension would stay in place “until such time as the CAN becomes free of government interference and is properly structured to begin exploiting the tremendous cricket talent and opportunities that exist in Nepal.”

While the suspension cut off ICC funding for the CAN, the ICC board decided that Nepal national teams could continue to feature in ICC events.

The Minister said that the government had already requested the Chand-led faction to withdraw its case. He added that the players would also receive their pay after the ban on CAN was lifted. Nepali cricketers were barred from their pay after the ICC suspended CAN. Prior to the ban, CAN had categorized players in ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ and agreed for monthly pay accordingly in 2015. However, following ICC’s decision, the pay was halted.

Players are yet to receive their two years pay. Yesterday, the cabinet of ministers decided to provide Rs. 500,000 to each player for winning the One Day International and T20 series against the United Arab Emirates.