A one-day international planned for next month to raise funds for victims of the southeast Asian tsunami disaster will be moved from India unless it is granted tax exempt status, the International Cricket Council said on Wednesday.
Kolkata's Eden Gardens is likely to be the venue for the return match between a World team and an Asia XI in February. The first game held in Melbourne, Australia, on January 10 helped raise over $11 million.
"The game is most likely to be in Kolkata, but a decision [on tax exemption] has to be made by tomorrow," ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said.
The game could be shifted to Lahore in Pakistan, Dhaka in Bangladesh or Colombo in Sri Lanka, he said.
India's finance ministry has yet to agree to a request for the proceeds of the match to be tax exempt made by the sports ministry and the Indian cricket board.
"The sports minister has spoken to the finance minister, but there has been no positive response so far," Meenaxi Chaudhary, a senior official in the sports ministry said.
The Indian government's refusal to provide tax exemption for last year's ICC Champions Trophy prompted the ICC to shift the tournament to England.
