Peeved ICC president Mustafa Kamal tenders resignation, Sethi next in line

The outgoing official accuses governing body of behaving “unlawfully”

DHAKA: Mustafa Kamal resigned as president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday with an outspoken attack on the world governing body after he was prevented from presenting the World Cup trophy.

Pakistan’s former cricket chief Najam Sethi is next in line to hold the position of the ICC President as Kamal's tenure was supposed to end in a span of two to three months.

Read more: Introducing ICC’s new president: Najam Sethi

Kamal accused the ICC of behaving "unlawfully" after he was barred from making the presentation. He said he was blocked because he refused to withdraw an incendiary allegation of match-fixing.

The Bangladeshi national said after his country's World Cup quarter-final defeat by India that there was "no quality in the umpiring" and suggested the result had been "pre-arranged".

Read more: ICC President threatens world governing body

The claim drew a sharp rebuke from ICC chief executive David Richardson and Kamal later complained that he had been deprived of his "right" as ICC president to present the trophy to the winners, Australia, in Melbourne last Sunday.

Instead, that honour went to India's N Srinivasan, who took over as ICC chairman last year and who was booed at the ceremony.

"I resign right at this moment. I am no longer ICC president," Kamal told reporters at the airport in Dhaka, where he arrived on Wednesday from Singapore. "The main reason for my resignation is that I can't work with those who can act unconstitutionally and unlawfully."

Kamal's position has been largely ceremonial since Srinivasan took office as ICC chairman last year.

On Wednesday, he launched an extraordinary attack on the Indian national, calling him "rotten" and "controversial" and suggesting the ICC could stand for "Indian Cricket Council". "I feel bad even to mention his name," he said. "If that man is in charge of cricket, how will cricket run?"

Srinivasan was forced to quit as head of India's cricket board over a corruption inquiry involving his son-in-law.

Kamal, who is a government minister in Bangladesh, had earlier threatened to quit over the umpiring of the quarter-final. He said he had been told he would only be allowed to present the trophy if he withdrew his claim of bias.

"I will not withdraw the statement because it was the sentiment of 160 million people," said Kamal, referring to the population of Bangladesh. Then they told me, if you can't submit an apology or withdraw the statement, you can't present the trophy.”

Kamal also called for a clean-up of the ICC, saying cricket should be "run by people who are holy and who believe in honesty".

A spokesman for Kamal said he had sent a resignation letter to the ICC chief executive.

The ICC version

The ICC on Wednesday confirmed that Kamal has tendered his resignation as the ICC President with immediate effect.

In his resignation letter to the ICC Chief Executive Richardson, Kamal said he was stepping down on personal grounds and offered his apologies to all associated with the ICC, while adding that he had no complaints to make against anyone.

“Let the game of cricket under the leadership of ICC touch the hearts and minds of every cricket lover,” he wrote in his letter.

The ICC Board will now consider the vacant position of the ICC president at its forthcoming meeting in Dubai on 15 and 16 April.