BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - FOLLOWING the bidding war between Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago for the hosting of the 2016 Caribbean Premier League Finals, the Federation has now thrown its hat in the race.
This announcement was made by Minister of Sports Shawn Richards while a guest on the radio commentary of the West Indies and South Africa clash last evening (Jun. 15) at Warner Park.
When contacted today, Richards confirmed to SKNVibes Sport that a bid was made to have the finals played again in the Federation.
“We are making a bid and at the end of the day CPL would determine who would be the host.”
Controversy surrounded which of the two Caribbean countries had won the right to host the Finals after word broke from government sources in Georgetown that they had out bid oil rich Trinidad.
Trinidad then asked for an extension to put together their proposal, but word broke that Guyana had withdrawn their bid and the twin-island nation had received the rights.
Questioned on if the Federation’s bid means that the Caribbean Premier League organizers backpedalled on awarding Trinidad the rights, Minister Richards only stated he was not aware and that it is up to CPL to make a decision on who would hosts the matches.
Back in 2014, the Federation hosted both the Semi-final matches and the Finals.
The Minister did not give any indication on how much the Government is willing to pay for the games, but previous figures quoted in regional media indicated that the organizers are asking for US$4 million.
Meanwhile, the matches scheduled for Florida have been placed under a cloud as the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) has called for the games scheduled to be cancelled.
In a report published on leading cricket website Cricinfo.com, the USACA did not get the necessary sanction to have matches played there.
However, ICC Head of Global Development Tim Anderson told the website that the body does not have the authority to sanction the matches because they were suspended last year.
"Please be assured that the CPL has indeed completed the due sanctioning process required by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in order to host these matches in Florida.”
According to the website, troubles began brewing when emails were shared between Duncan Finch, Broward County Parks manager and USACA's legal representative and former executive secretary Kenwyn Williams.
The latter had informed that the necessary protocols were not followed, the website noted.
"The organisers of the CPL matches did not apply for and receive the requisite sanctions for holding the slated matches in the United States. We request that you cancel the scheduled events until further notice."
When asked if the Federation would be opened to hosting neutral matches, Minister Richards stated that matches were schedule for Florida and he was not aware of any problems with those games, while pointing out that it would be a decision that would have to be made by CPL.
