Icl Players Out Of Champions League

The organisers behind the new Twenty20 Champions League have stated that the qualifying counties from England will not be able to field players who featured in the rebel Indian Cricket League.

The announcement is another nail in the coffin of the ICL which has been completely overshadowed by its more lucrative rival the Indian Premier League.

The top two teams in domestic Twenty20 in India, England, Australia and South Africa will qualify for the multi-million pound Champions League event in India.

However English teams will be barred unless they agree not to play cricketers who featured in the ICL. Counties have so far fielded ICL players in the domestic Twenty20 Cup – the finalists of which qualify for the Champions League.

Only three of the 18 counties – Essex, Middlesex and Somerset – do not have players who have signed ICL contracts.
 
Board of Control for Cricket in India vice-president Lalit Modi, who also controls the IPL, said: ‘India will not host or participate in any event featuring players from the ICL. England Cricket Board’s officials told us that laws in Britain do not permit them to restrict participation of players.

‘That being the case, England’s teams will not be able to play in the Champions League staged in India. It’ll be very sad, but we have our own rule.’

Cricket Australia is drawing up the rules and playing conditions of the tournament and is expected to confirm them at an International Cricket Council meeting in Dubai next week.

During the ongoing English Twenty20 Cup, teams have steadfastly refused to pull out ICL players because they said the rule was unclear.

The likelihood is that the two counties qualifying from England will have ICL players, and if those players are subsequently withdrawn from the Champions League, legal implications would be inevitable.