Shorter World Cup means less money, says official

Officials from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will meet on June 18 in the Pakistani summer resort of Bhurban to discuss matters relating to the 2011 World Cup, according to Saleem Altaf, the chief executive officer of the World Cup organising committee.

Altaf, speaking to The News, said that the officials from all four countries jointly hosting the World Cup would work out a method to meet initial expenses in the setting up as well as the running of the various organising committees.

Altaf said that the issue of generating seed money for the organising committee is expected to be settled during the meet. "We need around US$500,000 for the initial expenses. This amount will be shared equally by the four boards," said Altaf. He stated that the organisers of the World Cup would also take steps towards opening a joint account during the meeting.

In addition, officials from India would speak on their experience of hosting the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy and on the expenses involved. The frequency of future meetings of the central organising committee and the setting up of local organising committees would also be discussed at the meet. "We have to see whether all the boards are ready to put the local organising committees in place by February 2008, three years before the World Cup," he said.

On the issue of a shorter World Cup, Altaf said that the final decision would come from the International Cricket Council (ICC). "A shorter World Cup would mean less money and we are not happy with that. But the final decision would come from the ICC executive board," he explained.