Kamal quits as ICC president over trophy-giving row

Dhaka, Bangladesh’s Mustafa Kamal said on Wednesday that he is resigning as president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) over who should have given away the World Cup trophy to fifth-time winners Australia on Sunday.
At a press conference here, Kamal said he was resigning to protest the “flagrant violation” of the ICC constitution, and his decision was “final” and “not negotiable”, reports bdnews24.com.
Kamal earlier voiced his dissatisfaction, saying the ICC had denied him his right to hand out the trophy to the champions.
Kamal also said that according to clause 3.3 of the ICC constitution only the president has the right to hand over the trophy to the winners of a match like the World Cup final.
“I was supposed to present the trophy to the winners after the Melbourne final on March 29. But I couldn’t do that,” he said at the press conference.
“From here on, I will speak as the former president of the ICC. It is not possible to work with those who will violate the constitution. I want to let the people of the world know this,” he added.
Kamal’s resignation in a huff follows a massive spat between him and ICC chairman N. Srinivasan, who broke the ICC rule and himself presented the glittering World Cup trophy to winners Australia at the prize-giving ceremony after the final at Melbourne last Sunday.
According to ICC’s amendment of rules in January 2015, the president is to hand out the trophy. But in a breach of the constitution, Srinivasan presented the trophy to Australian captain Michael Clarke after the match on Sunday.
Australia defeated fellow tournament co-hosts New Zealand by seven wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday.
Srinivasan used Kamal’s outburst against what the Bangladeshi official alleged was “poor” umpiring in the India-Bangladesh quarter-final match, and got others to support his decision to himself present the trophy to the winners.
In response to his comments, ICC chief executive David Richardson hit back at Kamal saying his remarks were “very unfortunate’.
Kamal was not on the dais during the presentation ceremony and Srinivasan was booed heavily by sections of the 93,000-strong crowd at the MCG.
He had earlier threatened to reveal some of the ICC’s “dark secrets” following the spat.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Tuesday officially protested to the ICC over controversial rulings by umpires against Bangladesh during their World Cup quarter-final against India.
BCB chief executive officer Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said on Tuesday that the board had lodged its protest on the day after the March 19 match.