NEW DELHI: With three weeks to go for the ICC Champions Trophy, ICC's CEO Geoff Allardice has stepped down from his position. ICC chairman Jay Shah announced the development through a media release on Tuesday night.
While no official reason has been given for the decision, TOI understands that Allardice was under pressure from the ICC board because of mishandling funds during the T20 World Cup in USA last year and also the messy build-up to the Champions Trophy. It is learnt that Allardice didn't apprise the board about two venues in Rawalpindi and Karachi not being ready for the Champions Trophy.
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After the T20 World Cup last year, ICC's head of events Chris Tetley and general manager marketing and communications Claire Furlong had stepped down. Head of anti-corruption unit Alex Marshall too quit his job.
"The audit for the T20 World Cup is still on and many uncomfortable questions have been raised. Allardice was supposed to be in charge of the preparation of the stadiums in Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. The venues are being revamped but aren't ready yet. The ICC board wasn't happy with this development," a source close to the development told TOI on Tuesday night.
The ICC will go through a major restructuring. It is still not clear if Allardice has stepped down with immediate effect. However, the ICC statement says that the ICC Board will initiate the next steps to identify a replacement.
"On behalf of the ICC Board, I want to sincerely thank Geoff for his leadership and commitment during his tenure as Chief Executive. His efforts have played a key role in advancing cricket globally. We are truly grateful for his service and wish him all the very best in his future endeavors," Shah said in the statement.
