India could be in danger of losing the rights to stage the Asia Cup 2018 after refusing to host Pakistan.
Cricketing ties between the two counties remain strained for some time now with the last bilateral series taking place all the way in 2012-13.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has recently filed a $70 million compensation claim against the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) for its failure to honour the MoU signed between the two governing bodies to hold a certain amount of bilateral series.
The BCCI officials now believe that it could lose the rights to hold the continental cricket competition if the Indian government’s stance of no cricketing ties with Pakistan continues.
Recently the government had refused to provide visas to the Pakistan U-19 squad for the U-19 Asia Cup following which the tournament was shifted to Malaysia.
PCB’s Najam Sethi had recently filed a claim against the BCCI.
“If we didn’t get the permission to host the Pakistan’s Under-19 team from the Centre, it looks highly unlikely that we’ll get to do so in case of their senior team,” a BCCI official told the Times of India.
“The Pakistan athletes were given visas to take part in the Asian Athletics Championships, but the government says that cricket’s case is a bit different, since it has an emotional connect with people from both the countries. When we approached the government with a request, we didn’t get any response from them, but we need to decide fast since we need to inform the ACC soon,” the official added in the statement.
If the policy of denying Pakistan cricketers a visa continues, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the hosting rights of the senior Asia Cup could well be taken away from India as was the case in the U-19 tournament.