Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, speaks onstage during the 2024 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York Times Square on Sept. 24, 2024 in New York City.
Photo by Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit
Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has condemned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for its decision to prohibit players from competing in overseas T20 leagues, including the Guyana-based Guyana Super League (GSL).
Describing the move as “unsustainable,” Dr. Ali said the BCCI could enforce such legislation because it was now the superpower of world cricket.
While the Indian Premier League (IPL) is regarded as the biggest T20 league in the world, the BCCI restricts its non-retired players from global leagues outside the IPL, such as the CPL, Pakistan Super League, Big Bash, and ILT20.
However, Dr Ali added that the sport would eventually suffer if India continued to hoard its cricketers.
“India holds the cricketing nuclear button…Control through exclusion and market dominance may yield short-term gains, but an open, level playing field is the only sustainable model for long-term growth.
“India cannot be developing the level of talent it is developing just for its borders,” Dr Ali stressed.
“It’s like boxing. You can’t be a world champion if you only want to fight within your borders, and the BCCI is doing an enormous disservice to India’s magnitude of talent by not allowing participation in this league.”
Dr. Ali called for a return to a collaborative spirit in global cricket and urged the BCCI to reconsider its stand, especially with nations like Saudi Arabia “investing strategically in sports”, which he noted can “quickly reshape the balance of power.”
Dr. Ali explained that he wanted the recently established GSL, headed by Guyana and backed by Cricket West Indies, to be seen as a global partner to existing T20 competitions, not a rival, as it seeks to bring together the winners of major T20 leagues like the CPL, PSL, BBL, and more.
“On the economic side, we strongly believe that the product that we have launched – the Global Super League – is not meant to be in competition with any product. It is meant to be in partnership with all the different T20 products.
“In the first year, I believe it has ruffled enough feathers and created enough news for people to understand this is a serious league,” Dr. Ali said.
