Lorgat Says India Safe for Cricket World Cup
Following terror threat to India, the host country of next year’s World Cup, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has expressed hope that all major cricket countries will work in accord to make sure that the mega event doesn’t get adversely affected, reported ANI.
“The World Cup is the big piece of work that we have to deliver and we intend to do so. The whole issue of security is dynamic, but we will assess it very carefully and implement whatever measures are necessary to ensure safety and security. I do not share the same concerns for India as Pakistan,” Lorgat was quoted as saying by The News.
The safety concerns began about next year’s world cup following leakage of a security report that urges cricketers to seriously consider withdrawing from the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to credible terrorism threat by al-Qaida.
The England team’s security advisor Reg Dickason prepared the report, which has been commissioned by players’ associations in England, Australia and South Africa.
The report further antagonises relations between IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and FICA chief executive Tim May.
It should be noted that any major disturbance to the IPL will automatically affect next’s World Cup, which India co-hosts with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Lorgat, nonetheless, is confident that ICC’s willingness to work in partnership by setting up security officers in each member nation will maintain unanimity in the build-up to the World Cup.
“We have established a quality network of security managers at each of the full member boards and through that we can develop a far better co-ordinated approach to safety and security,” he was quoted as saying.
