Substantial amount could have been raised in Sharjah: Dalmiya

The President of the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF) Jagmohan Dalmiya said in Kolkata on Tuesday that the ACF had chosen Sharjah as the venue of the tournament to raise funds for the quake affected Gujarat, simply because it was ready. "The ACC tournament had concluded in Sharjah only a month back. So it was the only venue that could have hosted the tournament," he said. He also made it clear that the ACF did not want to involve itself in any politics that has contributed in calling off the tournament.

Addressing reporters at a joint press conference with the WICB president Ross Patrick Rousseau, the former ICC president said "Look, the Asian Cricket Foundation had suggested to the Indian, Pakistani and the Bangladesh Cricket Boards of their intentions of organizing such a tournament." He added that however, at the same time, it was the responsibility of the respective Boards to get the permission from their Governments. "We had told the representatives of the Boards to give in their written consent within two days from the date we made the announcement. Since it was not there we called off the tournament."

When asked as to why the ACF did not talk with the various Governments themselves, Dalmiya said, "It is not our responsibility. We can only suggest. It will have to be the Boards of the various countries who will have to talk to the Governments."

Dalmiya who introduced Rousseau and the CEO of the West Indies Cricket Board Gregory Shillingford also added that a number of organizations had come forward to make the tournament a success within a very short time. "Zee was ready to pay 4 million dollars (Rs.18 crores), Sony Rs one crore, Coke close to two and half crores and Star and ESPN had offered us free airtime. So quite a substantial amount could have been raised."