India may lose the chance to host ICC Champions Trophy 2021

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Bengaluru, February 9: The prevailing uncertainty over the Union Government offering tax exemption to ICC events may cost India the ICC Champions Trophy 2021 and may be even dim the country's possibility of hosting the World Cups.

In its Board meeting on Friday (February), the ICC expressed concern about the absence of a tax exemption from the Indian Government for ICC events held in India despite ongoing efforts from both the ICC and BCCI in this regard - a standard practice for major sporting events around the world.

The Board agreed that ICC management, supported by the BCCI, will continue the dialogue with the Indian Government but in the meantime directed ICC management to explore alternative host countries in a similar time zone for the ICC Champions Trophy 2021.

The India Government used to give tax exemption to ICC events till the 2011 World Cup - staged in the country. But that practice has been stopped from the 2016 ICC World T20, forcing official broadcaster Star Sports to pay 10 per cent TDS for the event and in turn they paid that much less money to the ICC.

The Indian tax officials had told the ICC that it can file returns in India and seek a refund but the cricket body till date has not initiated any such action.

However, the Central Government had offered tax exemption to the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in India last year. When asked about the move to abolish tax exemption for ICC events, a bureaucrat told MyKhel: "The FIFA U17 World Cup was expected to promote football in India, so the government gave direction to exempt that event from taxes. But cricket is an established sport in India and the government thinks that it does not really require a tax exemption."