da imperador bet： The cricket world has begun to assess the impact, on its finances and credibility, of the fraud charges levelled against Allen Stanford. The ECB and West Indies Cricket Board, the two boards most closely associated with Stanford, have suspended negotiatio
Cricinfo staff18-Feb-2009
Allegations of fraud against Allen Stanford have embarassed the WICB and the ECB © The Nation
The cricket world has begun to assess the impact on its finances and credibility of the fraud charges levelled against Allen Stanford. The ECB and West Indies Cricket Board, the two boards most closely associated with Stanford, have suspended negotiations with him and indicated that domestic and international tournaments sponsored by him are at risk.The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint on Tuesday in a federal court in Dallas accusing Stanford, who heads the Stanford Financial Group, of fraud in the sale of around US$8 billion of high-yielding certificates of deposits held in his organisation’s bank in Antigua.The crisis will have an immediate impact on some of the future tournaments organized by both the affected boards. The Stanford 20/20 regional series in West Indies is now unlikely to be held. Asked whether the tournament would go ahead, the WICB president Julian Hunte said: “We anticipate that it will not continue (in the immediate future).”He then sought to play down the impact on the WICB. “That is not a difficult matter for us to deal with. Either the WICB on its own or with the assistance of other entrepreneurs, will be able to get a tournament going in a way that will make it financially viable for us.”However, the cancellation of the tournament will deal a significant financial blow to the authorities involved in its organisation. Forbes Persaud, chief executive of the Trinidad and Tobago board, said the immediate financial loss as a result of the cancellation would amount to US$195,000: “Now that this has happened, it would mean that we cannot really look forward to that [money] coming to us again,” Persaud told the . “I don’t like to kick a man when he’s down. What we know is that as we speak, his license has been suspended. To all intents and purposes, the West Indies Cricket Board is not dependent on Stanford for its financial viability.”