ICC President Malcolm Gray today clarified the Council's position on speculation that the Indian government is to withdraw its team from the forthcoming Sharjah tournament involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

"Sharjah is a tournament that falls outside of the ICC's International Tours Programme. Countries are invited to compete by the organisers and as a private agreement it is a matter for them, rather than the ICC, to deal with this particular issue," commented Malcolm Gray.

He also confirmed that the ICC would not impose any penalty or sanction against a member country for not participating in Sharjah. "This would be a case of the government saying it does not want its national cricket team to play in the tournament, rather than a decision reached by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. We would not take disciplinary action against any member in cases of force majeure."

Media enquiries relating to this statement should be addressed to:

Mark Harrison
ICC Communications Manager
Tel: 00 44 (0) 20 7266 7913/1818
Email: mark.harrison@icc.cricket.org

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