Amnesty for rebel Indian cricket league players

India's cricket board on Wednesday offered amnesty to players involved in the rival Indian Cricket League if they sever ties with the unsanctioned Twenty20 tournament by the end of next month.

The players can participate in domestic cricket immediately, but will have to wait for a year before they are considered for selection for the Indian national team, Board of Control for Cricket in India president Shashank Manohar said Wednesday.

"We are giving amnesty to all ICL players provided they sever ties with the ICL by May 31 and come back to the BCCI," Manohar told reporters after a BCCI meeting.

The BCCI decision came less than two weeks after the International Cricket Council rejected the ICL's bid for official recognition.

Himanshu Mody, the ICL business chief, said if the players fulfilled their contractual obligations, they were free to go.

"The ICL management has decided not to renew the contracts of some of the ICL players and support staff that have expired. As cricket professionals they are free to decide and explore their options," Mody said.

Shreyas Khanolkar, an ICL player, welcomed the BCCI decision, especially for younger players. "But one month's time given to players to decide is too little," he said.

The ICL is a rival to the BCCI sanctioned Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition and was started by Essel Group, owners of Zee Television _ one of the largest television networks in India _ and fronted by former India captain and all-rounder Kapil Dev. The ICL has been in operation for two seasons.

"Many (ICL) players have approached us and asked us to give them a chance to rectify their mistakes and we are doing so," Manohar said.

The ICC considered a similar application for recognition by the ICL last year and asked the BCCI to meet ICL officials in a bid to resolve conflicts between the rival leagues.

Discussions between BCCI and ICL officials broke down and the Indian cricket board maintained its stance that life bans on all Indian players participating in the rebel competition will be enforced.

The BCCI's firm opposition to the ICL had also led several other national cricket boards to impose bans on players who are contracted to the rebel league.

The ICC, at its meeting in Dubai on April 18, stressed the "importance of protecting the fabric of the game" and added that it hoped to send a message to players that they "could not swap between official and unofficial cricket at will."

However, the ICC left it up to the individual boards to determine the sanction for any player returning from the ICL.