PCB demands bigger revenue share in Asia Cup 2023, delays tournament schedule

Pakistan is the host of the upcoming Men's Asia Cup 2023. After locking horns with Indian Cricket Board and the ACC to retain their rights to host games, they are now demanding a lion's share in the revenue. Apparently, some readers might remember the time when the PCB wanted to propose UAE as a neutral venue for India. However, alongside India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan boards shot down the idea.

They cited the ongoing year being the ODI World Cup year and the severe heat in the middle east. Sri Lanka, which offered to host a few games, was given the right to host some games. However, Pakistan still has the hosting rights for the tournament. They have been awarded four games in the first round. They also want to host a few more games at home apart from wanting a lion's share.

“It has already been finalised that Pakistan will only host Asia Cup matches as a host nation while the rest of the event will be held in Sri Lanka. The important thing is how much Pakistan gets as revenue to host remaining matches in Sri Lanka,” a PCB source told The News, Pakistan.

“In Sri Lanka, it is hard to generate an extra amount. We have to reach some understanding with the ACC to ensure that we would get the revenues we are looking at. That is to generate the same revenues that India generated from hosting the Asia Cup last year in Dubai,” the source explained.

Apparently, the reason PCB proposed UAE as the neutral venue is that they would have gotten good revenue. However, in Sri Lanka, there is less chance of that happening.

Asia Cup 2023 to start on August 31

Only one and a half months are left at the start of the tournament. The teams have been divided into two groups of three each. One group consists of India, Pakistan, and Nepal. On the other hand, the second group consists of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.