ICC will not back Indian league

The International Cricket Council will not back the breakaway Indian Cricket League until it is approved by the country's cricket administration.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, which runs the sport in India, does not support the new league.

And it has threatened to ban any player signing up for the Twenty20 tournament from representing the national team.

"BCCI is the only body recognised by the ICC to run official cricket in India," said ICC chief Malcolm Speed.

"We have not got any application from the ICL for recognition yet, but we already have a five-step process to decide on such issues."

The ICC needs to know if the series is being run for the development of the game, who are the players involved and if they are contracted to their parent bodies, when and where the series is to be played and if anti-corruption measures have been put in place.

"In the last stage we ask applicants if the member board of the country had approved it. If the answer is no, we would not give it our recognition," added Speed.

The breakaway league, bankrolled by media baron Subhash Chandra, plans to hold Twenty20 tournaments between city teams for the next three years.

Former Test captains Brian Lara of the West Indies and Inzamam-ul-Haq of Pakistan are among the star names the ICL says have signed up for the series so far.

No member of the Indian team touring England has been linked with the ICL, which plans to hold the inaugural event later this year, but 44 Indian first-class cricketers are reported to have signed up.

The ICL has filed a legal challenge against the official body in a Delhi court, saying the BCCI was a private body and could not have monopoly over running cricket in India.

Source: BBC Sport