New Delhi: In a massive boost for Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved a budget of approximately USD 65 million for the Champions Trophy 2025. The big ICC event, which is set to take place early next year, will be hosted by Pakistan.
According to multiple media reports, the the apex cricket body said that the ICC’s financial and commerce committee, which is headed by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, has approved the budget that was jointly prepared and submitted by the PCB and ICC’s finance department.
65 million CT budget, 4.5 million additional expenses
The approximate budget allocated for the big-ticket event is around USD 65 millions while an amount of USD 4.5 million has been allocated as part of additional expense. The Champions Trophy, which is a 50-over event, returns after a gap of eight years and will take place in February and March next year in Pakistan, which hosts its first global event since it jointly-hosted the 1996 World Cup.
However, there still are doubts over Team India’s willingness to travel to the neighbouring country for the marquee event due to the political tension between the two nations. The approval of the total budget along with the additional expenses in the last ICC meeting held in Colombo led to speculations that back-up funds are being kept in case India ends up refusing to travel to their neighbouring country.
Something of similar sort happened in the year 2023 when India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup and then the Asian Cricket Council was forced to add Sri Lanka as another nation to co-host the tournament. While all the stakeholders were supposed to hold talks in this regard at the Annual General meeting of ICC, nothing concrete has come out of it yet publicly.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved a budget of USD 65 million for hosting the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
