Mumbai, June 1 (IANS) International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat Tuesday said the world body does not intend to clash with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and wants to sort out the differences over the controversial ‘whereabouts’ clause of the WADA code to which it is a signatory.
‘BCCI (Indian cricket board) is WADA-compliant. It’s just a question of agreeing on the finer details of the whereabouts clause,’ said Lorgat at a press conference here to announce the launch of online sales of tickets for the 2011 World Cup to be held in the sub-continent.
WADA director general David Howman had issued an ultimatum to the ICC and its member boards to accept the controversial clause or face the consequence of cricket being declared as WADA non-compliant sport.
Lorgat said: ‘I’m not sure that’s what he said. In fact he was very complimentary about the progress cricket has made in terms of doping. He is very much with us in terms of putting something specific for cricket.’
Last week Howman, who was on a short-trip to New Delhi, said: ‘Being a signatory, we expect the ICC and cricket to remain committed to the WADA code. The ICC has done a lot in the last three years, now they just need to give the final push.’
Indian players have rejected the clause contending that it is a violation of their fundamental right to privacy and poses a threat to their security.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said the only way out possible was to have a cricket-specific whereabouts clause.
‘We need a practical solution. We need a cricket-specific whereabouts clause as Mr. Lorgat said. The ICC’s Executive Board is seized of the matter and is in the process of putting up a plan for WADA,’ he said.
Lorgat said that security would be of top priority during the World Cup.
‘We will put up a master security plan to ensure safety and security of all,’ he said.
