Cricket News : ICC takes a twist in the Media Rights auction as PWC leaves

The International Cricket Council's (ICC) media rights auction has a twist, and it has to do with the auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and a new location. Although the auditors have left the process, the ICC insists that just the location of the bid submission has changed.

"We have changed the venue where the bids will be accepted. It was the PWC office earlier and now it will be at the ICC headquarters. The change is because the schedule has been changed from August 22 to 26,"

the ICC sources have told this website.

Since the auditors would have held the sealed bids in their safekeeping after submission on August 22,it is a fact that the PWC office served as the initial and original venue.

Now, that situation is different. The auditors' withdrawal from the process just a few days before the bids are to be accepted, however, is also a truth. According to ICC insiders, the process won't be impacted by PWC's departure.

The ICC sources said:

"It's right. We have engaged with them. They have completed their work of conducting the due diligence. They have submitted their report. Now their work is over,"

It remains to be seen how the competing broadcasters will perceive the development. Others couldn't be reached, and some people don't seem to be aware of it.

Before the big submission day, the majority of broadcasters have already arrived in Dubai. As a result of participant protest, the ICC has decided to move the event date to August 26.

The location is the ICC headquarters, which is located on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road in Dubai Sports City. The bids will be presented to the attorneys.

There appears to be a truce between the parties after they fought for a while over a few tender provisions, and as this website just revealed, all four Indian broadcasters-Disney Star, Viacom 18, Sony Sports, and Zee-have paid the bid collateral and are prepared to take part.

There isn't much information available on one of the seven parties that have signed the ITT paper, and Fan Code appears to have chosen not to participate. All eyes are now on Amazon.com.

Later, ICC provided an official comment.

"PWC were contracted to support the ICC's media rights sales process in two phases. Firstly, providing background checks as part of the due diligence on all bids which is ongoing. The second element was to act as an independent third party to hold the financial bids securely between submission and opening.

"Recent clarifications to bidders confirmed that bids can be submitted and opened simultaneously meaning PWC's services were no longer required to securely hold financial bids. PWC continue to support the process in other respects."

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