… calls for explanation
MINISTER of Tourism, Industry and Commerce (ag) Irfaan Ali has emphatically objected to the decision made by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to host two T20 matches in Florida, USA, between the West Indies and New Zealand on June 30 and July 1. According to Minister Ali, this decision lacks rationale and can have severe impacts on the Tourism Sector and more importantly, the viability of stadiums throughout the Caribbean.
Minister Ali made this pronouncement during a press briefing, last week, at the Tourism Ministry, South Road.
He explained, “It has been brought to our attention that the West Indies Cricket Board has sought to take matches into Florida. We find this decision to be a very strange decision and I am still trying to understand the rationale behind this decision.”
The Tourism Minister reminded that Caribbean Governments have invested heavily on stadiums over the years and one of the major growth indicators of making those investments was to have tourists come to the Caribbean as a result of international cricket.
“It is a very simplistic argument to say that you want to expand the market for cricket and take it into Orlando. One of the major debates in having the world cup in the U.S. is accessibility. Cricket is known as the ordinary man’s game; most of the people in the Caribbean do not have a visa to go to the United States. Definitely it is not promoting the game within the Caribbean,” Ali argued.
He reiterated his disapproval of the WICB’s decision and called for the impacts of this decision to be brought to the fore.
He said, “As minister with the responsibility for tourism, and I know President Donald Ramotar raised this at the Heads of Government meeting, I would like to lodge an official objection into the reasoning behind taking the cricket into Orlando and to get some explanation. In my opinion this has severe implications for the viability of the stadiums and for tourism here in the Caribbean.”