ACC rejects Najam Sethi’s comments on pathway structure and calendar

• ACC rejected Najam Sethi’s remarks regarding ACC Calendar 2023–24.
• Sethi is the chairman of the management committee for the PCB.
• Sethi claimed that ACC President Jay Shah had “unilaterally” decided on calendar.

On Friday, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) rejected Najam Sethi’s remarks regarding the ACC Calendar 2023–24 and the pathway system. Sethi is the chairman of the management committee for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The previous day, Sethi claimed on Twitter that ACC President Jay Shah had “unilaterally” decided on the calendar and pathway layout.

Thank you @JayShah for unilaterally presenting @ACCMedia1 structure & calendars 2023-24 especially relating to Asia Cup 2023 for which 🇵🇰 is the event host. While you are at it, you might as well present structure & calendar of our PSL 2023! A swift response will be appreciated. https://t.co/UdW2GekAfR

— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) January 5, 2023

“It has come to our knowledge that PCB Chairman Mr Najam Sethi has made a comment on the ACC President unilaterally taking the decision on finalising the calendar and announcing the same,” the ACC said in a press release.

“The ACC wants to clarify that it has followed established due process. The calendar was approved by its Development Committee and Finance & Marketing Committee in a meeting held on December 13th, 2022.

“The calendar was then communicated to all the participating members individually, including Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), via an email dated December 22nd, 2022. While responses were received from certain Member Boards, no comments or suggested modifications were received from PCB.

“In view of the above, Mr. Sethi’s comments on a social media platform are baseless and are vehemently denied by the ACC.”

Sethi, however, stated yesterday that “PCB did not get any emails from ACC on December 22 or at any other date.” He continued by saying that PCB CEO Faisal Hasnain has also confirmed it.

Pakistan is scheduled to host the Asia Cup in 2023, although it will probably be moved to a neutral location.

The day after Indian officials announced they would not send a team to the 2023 Asia Cup in Pakistan, Pakistani cricket officials intimated they might not send a squad to the World Cup in India in October of last year.

India “can’t” send a team to Pakistan, according to Shah, who is also the BCCI secretary. He also suggested the competition would be shifted to a neutral location.

His announcement caught Pakistan off guard, and officials there issued a warning that it would “split” the cricketing world.

Shah’s remarks, according to the PCB, “may affect Pakistan’s visit to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and subsequent ICC Events in India in the 2024-2031 cycle.”

The hosting rights for the 2023 Asia Cup were granted to Pakistan during Shah’s leadership, according to the Pakistan board, which claimed it has not received any official communications from the ACC.

Despite being regarded as one of sports’ greatest rivals, India and Pakistan have not faced off in any version of the game on home territory since 2012; instead, they exclusively compete against one another in international events on neutral sites.

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