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SYDNEY - A split in world cricket looms if the International Cricket Council (ICC) votes tomorrow in favour of staging the Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan.
An independent security assessment compiled for the New Zealand, Australian and England boards states Pakistan is not safe and their teams should not attend the September tournament between the world's top-eight sides, The Australian newspaper reported today.
It means a headache for New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan, who has publicly maintained a diplomatic stance and warned against a "knee jerk reaction" until all security information is gathered.
If the Asian bloc, led by India, all support Pakistan, then New Zealand, Australia and England will seriously contemplate a boycott, the report said.
That comes with a potential fine of $10 million for each country for failing to support an ICC event.
For the tournament to be shifted from Pakistan, seven of the 10 ICC member nations need to vote in favour at tomorrow night's telephone hookup.
The independent assessment was compiled by cricket security expert Reg Dickason, who recommended that Australia abandon their scheduled test and one-day tour of Pakistan last March and April. Cricket Australia acted on that advice.
Dickason was also present as NZC's security adviser when the team cut short their 2002 tour after a suicide bomber killed 14 people outside their Karachi hotel.
A second independent security report commissioned by the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) also recommended that Pakistan was not safe enough to host the Champions Trophy.
Boards from New Zealand, Australia and England have strong legal requirements to provide a safe and secure workplace and could not act against the recommendations of their security adviser without serious ramifications, The Australian reported.
"We still have serious concerns about travelling to Pakistan to play in the Champions Trophy," New Zealand Cricket Players' Association boss Heath Mills said.
He was backed by his Australian counterpart, Paul Marsh.
"Based on expert reports read and heard during Sunday's meeting there is no way the ACA can recommend touring Pakistan at this time," Marsh said.
NZC was in a similar position at the 2003 World Cup when its former chief executive Martin Snedden withdrew the team from their match against Kenya in Nairobi due to terrorist threats, despite the ICC voting 10-2 in favour of the city being a safe venue.
It saw New Zealand lose vital competition points, and led the ICC to withhold US$2.5 million of NZC's pay-out from the World Cup.
New Zealand last toured Pakistan amid presidential security in 2003, without incident.
Senior player Jacob Oram was the first to publicly voice safety concerns about Pakistan during the recent tour of England, saying it was a "massive issue" that would have to be discussed at length with his wife and family.
Other senior New Zealand players are understood to have serious concerns about touring Pakistan, as do players from England and Australia, with Andrew Symonds the latest to go on record.
Pakistan hosted the recent six-nation Asia Cup without serious incident and has used this as the basis to retain the Champions Trophy.
But on the night of the July 6 final in Karachi, a terrorist bomb exploded in the capital Islamabad, killing 18.
Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad's sister city of Rawalpindi are the current Champions Trophy venues.
Sri Lanka has already been named as an alternative venue, while England also recently entered hosting calculations.
- NZPA
