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Lahore and Dhaka enter fray for tsunami cricket match

NEW DELHI: Asian cricket chiefs were Monday exploring alternative venues for next month’s one-day international for tsunami victims following the Indian government’s silence on whether proceeds from the game would be exempt from tax.

The Indian government collects tax from gate receipts for all international cricket matches played in the country, but officials pleaded for an exemption for the second tsunami fund-raiser, expected to be held in Calcutta in mid-February. Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, who met federal finance minister P Chidambaram last Tuesday to seek tax exemption, said there had been no reply from the government and time was fast running out.

“It is a pre-condition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) that no tax should be levied on what is essentially a fund-raiser,” said Dalmiya. “We need time to organise the match. If there is no response from the government by Monday evening, we will look at other venues.” The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka were on the short-list, Dalmiya said, although neither venue could match the 90,000 seating capacity of Calcutta’s Eden Gardens.

The first of the two fund-raising matches was played in Melbourne on January 10 between Asia and the Rest of the World teams and generated $11 million in revenue. The second match between the same teams will be held between February 11-13 so that star players from Australia and New Zealand can be accommodated in the world team, officials said.

Australia are due to begin a tour of New Zealand on February 17. It was earlier proposed to hold the match on February 15 or 16 to take in players from England and South Africa, who will be busy till February 13, but organisers decided to pitch in for what they perceive is the greater star appeal of Australians like captain Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath and New Zealanders Chris Cairns and Stephen Fleming.

The Indian cricket board has also sought tax exemption for the Champions Trophy limited-overs tournament it hosts in October next year. The tournament, featuring all 10 Test-playing nations and two other teams, is held every two years to raise funds for the International Cricket Council’s development programme. afp

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