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ShareMumbai: TheIndian Cricket League (ICL) has dashed off legal notices to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England and the Wales Cricket Board (ECB), stating that the 'boycott' of the players associated with the ICL was "illegal".
The notices, sent on November 16, have sought injunctions against the BCCI, ICC and ECB for imposing bans on ICL players. "Our main aim is to prevent ban on players taking part in the league. It should stop," Himanshu Modi, the business head of the ICL, told DNA.
The notices, sent on behalf of Essel Sports Private Ltd (ESPL) by a London-based legal company called Ingram Winter Green, want the defendants to reply by December 7. The notices have named ECB as the first respondent with the BCCI and the ICC as the second and third respondents, respectively.
The notices said that the ICL has always received a hostile reception from the BCCI which constantly rebuffed the league's aim and approaches to achieve co-operation. "The BCCI has since engaged in a range of activities clearly calculated to deter and prevent prospective players (and others) from involving themselves with ICL, and intended to obstruct the activities of the league," the notices said.
It was also pointed out that the boycott of the ICL has had a serious effect on the players. The letters said the ECB was committing an unlawful restraint of trade by implementing the boycott on players associated with the ICL and added, "by reason of the aforesaid, the ESPL has suffered loss and damage throughout the relevant period."
The ICL was launched in 2007 but was denied recognition by the BCCI which also forced other international boards, including the ICC and the ECB, to impose ban on the players taking part in the Twenty20 league.
