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Karachi: Pakistan Cricket Board's chief operating officer, Saleem Altaf, on Saturday rebuffed claims that Pakistan was considering boycotting the 2011 World Cup under instruction from its government.
"No such thing or option has ever been discussed within the board or with the government," Altaf said.
Reports claimed the government was contemplating advising PCB to boycott the 2011 World Cup to be jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh after Pakistan was delisted from hosting matches during the tournament over security fears.
Pakistan was due to host 14 matches of the tournament but the International Cricket Council moved these matches to the other three host countries due to safety concerns.
Pakistan has contested the ICC decision and has asked the disputes resolution committee of the ICC to take up the case.
The PCB has also threatened to take legal action if its hosting rights were not restored.
Altaf said the process of trying to convince ICC to give Pakistan back its share of matches and allow them to host the ties at home or at a neutral venue was still on and meetings would be held between PCB chairman Ejaz Butt and the ICC president David Morgan later this month in this regard.
"We are open to discussions and we want a solution to this issue because we feel moving the matches out of Pakistan was not justified at all. But no, we have not discussed any option about boycotting the tournament if we didn't get our share of matches back," Altaf explained.
He made it clear that the PCB wanted to a find a solution by remaining within the international cricket community.
"We are trying to convince our partners in the World Cup and the ICC how important it is for Pakistan to host the World Cup matches and that process will continue," he said.
The ICC has rejected Pakistan's proposal to host its share of World Cup matches at neutral venues but said Pakistan would be paid it share of $10.5 million dollars as hosting fees for the 14 matches.
Altaf also said PCB was keen to have consistent and regular bilateral cricket ties with all the joint hosts of the World Cup.
