The International Cricket Council has given the go-ahead for the World Cup 2003 matches in Zimbabwe after ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed, World Cup executive director Ali Bacher, security and policing experts visited the country on Thursday to assess security arrangements.
ICC president Malcolm Gray said the six World Cup games in Zimbabwe will take place as planned, but a decision on allowing two matches to be played in Kenya has been deferred by a week.
The ICC also accepted the Indian players' altered contracts after its executive board called a truce with the Board of Control for Cricket in India during a marathon teleconference on Friday.
Later, speaking to rediff.com on telephone, Gray apologized for the delay in arriving at a compromise on the contracts row. "I am happy that we have finally arrived at a situation where the World Cup will have the best available teams from all nations, including India," he said.
Gray denied that the ICC had been coerced into accepting the altered contracts by the public interest petition filed against it in the Delhi high court.
The court had ruled on Wednesday that in the event of the ICC disqualifying the Indian cricket team from the World Cup, the Union of India should freeze all foreign exchange transactions by the Indian sponsors of the tournament.
"The recommendations committee of the ICC had already formulated the decision before the PIL was filed in the Delhi court," Gray said. "The ruling did not influence the ICC's decision.
"It is an interim judgement. It will go back to court next month and will be appealed against. It is sad and unnecessary for the board to have done what it did. I wish they had not taken those steps. It is sad that people don't work together to resolve issues and instead choose to make false accusations."
Gray confirmed that the BCCI would have to accept responsibility for any claims for compensation that arise from the ICC's commercial partners, the Global Cricket Corporation, as a result of the Indian team playing under altered contracts.
Pending the outcome of the arbitration process, the ICC decided to retain India's $9 million World Cup fee that is to be paid to each participating nation after the completion of the tournament.
"We will hold on to the amount till the matter is pending in the court for arbitration, which could take months before it is resolved," he said.
The ICC's executive board comprises Bob Merriman (Australia), Mohammad Ali Asghar (Bangladesh), David Morgan (England), Jagmohan Dalmiya (India), Sir John Anderson (New Zealand), Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia (Pakistan), Hemanka Amarasuriya (Sri Lanka), Percy Sonn (South Africa), Wesley Hall (West Indies), Peter Chingoka (Zimbabwe), Jimmy Rayani (Kenya), Tunku Imran (Malaysia), and Rene van Ierschot (The Netherlands).