‘Asked to be lenient to India’: Former match referee Chris Broad makes explosive claim about ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC) shows undue leniency towards India, former England cricketer Chris Broad has accused. He spoke to The Telegraph about his experience during his tenure as a match referee.

The 68-year-old has claimed that, at one point, he was asked to “find time” to support India’s over-rate offences instead of penalising them. According to cricketer Stuart Broad’s father, the ICC ended his 21-year refereeing career by not renewing his contract in 2024.

Broad recalled being pressured to be “lenient” when India, led by Sourav Ganguly, fell short of the required overs during a match. Despite being told to relax the penalty once, Ganguly repeated the mistake in the next game, Broad said.

“He (Ganguly) didn’t listen to any of the hurry-ups. So, I phoned and said, ‘what do you want me to do now?’ and I was told ‘just do him’. So, there were politics involved, right from the start. A lot of the guys now are either politically more savvy or just keeping the head below the parapet. I don’t know,” Senior Broad told The Telegraph.

According to Chris Broad, officials received strong support during Vince van der Bijl’s time as ICC umpires manager because he had a cricketing background. However, once he left, the management became weaker.

“India got all the money and have now taken over the ICC so in many ways. I’m pleased I’m not around because it’s a much more political position now than it ever has been,” he told the publication.

Jay Shah currently holds the position of ICC chairman. His tenure started in December 2024.

The Stuart Broad incident

Stuart Broad became part of cricketing history in 2007. Yuvraj Singh hit him for six consecutive sixes in an over. Yuvraj, fired up after an argument with Andrew Flintoff, unleashed a brutal assault in the 19th over. He completed the fastest fifty in T20Is in just 12 balls.

The moment instantly became legendary. Chris Broad recalls Christmas 2007 soon after his son faced Yuvraj’s wrath.

“I got Yuvraj to sign an Indian shirt and gave it to him (Stuart) for Christmas. Apparently, he opened the present, saw it and threw it in the bin. I think he had a bit of a sense of humour failure over that,” Chris told The Telegraph.

Chris Broad stats

Chris Broad was an opening batter for England. In 34 ODIs, he scored 1,361 runs at an average of 40.02. In 44 Test innings, he scored 1,661 at an average of 39.54.

As a match referee, Chris Broad officiated 123 Tests and 138 ODIs.

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