The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could face a range of penalties from the International Cricket Council (ICC), including the withholding of its revenue, restrictions on future bilateral series, and reduced influence in upcoming multi-nation events, if it opts out of next month’s T20 World Cup, officials familiar with the matter said on Sunday.
Officials of the cricket’s governing body said that a last-minute withdrawal by Pakistan would constitute a breach of the tournament’s participation agreement.
“As a direct consequence, PCB’s share of ICC annual revenue [estimated at around $34.5 million], would be withheld,” an official said on condition of anonymity. The share forms a part of ICC’s $3.2 billion media rights deal for 2024–27, over 85% of which is derived from the Indian market. For most cricket-playing nations outside India, England, and Australia, this represents their main source of income.
A boycott “staged solely on government advice”, without any direct harm to Pakistan’s team, would likely be seen by ICC as an attempt to “weaponise sport for politics”, potentially “alienating PCB within ICC Board, disrupting Pakistan’s bilateral calendar with other teams, and affecting foreign player participation in the Pakistan Super League,” the official said.
“This is not Pakistan’s battle to fight. Why should any government have a problem with a decision not concerning their national side and face consequences?” the official said.
The development follows Pakistan’s suggestion on Saturday that it might withdraw from the tournament, which begins on February 7, after ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland following Dhaka’s refusal to travel to India over security concerns, which were rejected by the governing body.
Mohsin Naqvi, chairperson of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Pakistan’s interior minister, said on Saturday that ICC “will have to look for a 22nd team” if Islamabad instructs them not to take part in the tournament. He reiterated this stance on Sunday, after Pakistan named its squad for the T20 World Cup, emphasising that the team announcement does not confirm their participation.
“We are waiting for the government’s advice, and whatever it instructs us to do, we will follow. If it decides that we should not participate in the World Cup, we will comply,” news agency PTI quoted him as saying. In a statement, PCB said that the players supported the board’s stance in backing Bangladesh, according to PTI.
The ICC official quoted earlier in the story rejected Pakistan’s objections to Bangladesh’s removal. “As for the PCB’s objection to the ICC’s decision to replace Bangladesh with Scotland, an independent review of Bangladesh’s security concerns was conducted and approved by the full board, with only Pakistan and Bangladesh opposing it,” the official said.
Within ICC circles, PCB’s threat is regarded as little more than a tactic to exert leverage and disrupt the tournament co-hosted by India.
Pakistan’s withdrawal would eliminate the India-Pakistan match on February 15 in Colombo , which remains one of the biggest commercial draws in ICC events.
Any immediate resumption of India-Pakistan bilateral cricket ties has been ruled out given the strained political ties between the two neighbours. The future of the Asia Cup, held every two years, remains uncertain following last year’s tense tournament. If the Asia Cup does not take place, Pakistan, and not the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would bear the greater financial burden.
Bangladesh was replaced from the tournament on Saturday after BCB repeatedly insisted that it would not play its scheduled matches in India, citing safety worries amid strained relations between the two countries. Pakistan was the only country to side with Bangladesh during an ICC meeting, where Dhaka’s stance was rejected. BCB requested the world body to change its group and relocate its matches to co-host Sri Lanka after the BCCI, on January 3, instructed Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from its IPL 2026 roster “due to recent developments”. The ICC described Mustafizur’s release as an “isolated and unrelated” development to Bangladesh’s position in the World Cup.
