Champions Trophy: The International Cricket Council is the global governing body of cricket. It was established in London in 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference. The ICC decides on every major rule related to cricket and also organises all major cricket tournaments. The history of the International Cricket Council is quite old. Since 1965, it was known as the International Cricket Conference. In 1987, its name was changed to International Cricket Council. But at present the headquarters of the International Cricket Council is in Dubai. In such a situation, the biggest question is why was the ICC headquarters shifted to Dubai?
Why was the ICC headquarters shifted to Dubai?
Let us tell you, for about 96 years the headquarters of the International Cricket Council was in London. But after this it was shifted to Dubai. There were many important reasons behind this move, in which increasing expenses and lack of space were the biggest reasons. At the same time, this big decision was taken considering the flexibility in tax rules in Dubai and the transfer of power of cricket towards Asia. At that time, it had become an expensive deal for the ICC to maintain its headquarters in London. After which the then ICC President Ahsan Mani and Chief Executive Malcolm Speed worked on it.
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Cricket boards of all countries benefited in Dubai
When the ICC took this decision, many cricket playing nations did not have a double-taxation agreement with England, which meant that they had to pay more tax on financial transactions made by them in England. On the other hand, Dubai was a tax-free country, which was more beneficial for the ICC. Shifting the headquarters to Dubai gave the ICC more flexibility in its financial matters and saved taxes, which was a major economic compulsion.
The dominance of cricket in Asia became a big reason
After the year 2000, the dominance of cricket became more in Asia than in Europe. Due to the headquarters being in London, England and Western countries had more influence in cricket, but at that time South Asia had become the center of cricket. Cricket was being watched a lot especially in India. Which emerged as the biggest market for cricket. Due to which Asia had become the new stronghold of cricket, this was also a big reason why ICC had to shift its headquarters from London to Dubai.