ICC Champions Trophy should stay in England - ICC

The ICC today said that it believed that the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 should remain in England following speculation of a push to move it out of the country by other nations during the ICC meetings starting in New Zealand tomorrow.

Ahead of the meeting of the ICC Executive Board, ICC President, Ehsan Mani, said that his view was that this tournament should not be affected by any bi-lateral issues between England and Zimbabwe no matter how serious.

"Clearly there are potentially very serious issues that need to be resolved relating to England's scheduled tour of Zimbabwe," said Mr Mani.

"I believe that through the Board and the ICC's Dispute's Resolution Process there are mechanisms in place for these bi-lateral concerns to be effectively dealt with.

"However, it is important that these genuine issues between two ICC members do not spill over and impact on broader issues that could affect all countries such as the venue for the ICC Champions Trophy 2004.

"Ultimately this decision is in the hands of the Executive Board and I will be guided by the views of the Directors but I will put forward my view that we should be seeking to clearly separate these matters so that we avoid confusing bi-lateral issues with multi-lateral concerns."

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Brendan McClements
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