Colombo, Sept. 28 (Reuters): The ICC will vote this week on whether to allow greater player representation within the organisation, its president Malcolm Gray said on Saturday.

If agreed by the ICC’s executive board, it would give FICA more influence in the running of the game.

That could help prevent a repeat of the situation that arose before the current Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, when Indian players initially refused to take part, saying they had not been consulted over the tournament’s sponsorship agreements.

Gray said recognition of FICA would help the consultation process between the ICC and the players. “As a central body it would be easier for us to deal with a body that represents all the players compared with individuals.”

However, he added it was not certain that the vote would go in FICA’s favour as a previous attempt to get agreement in October 2001 had failed, with several countries opposed to the idea.

“Since then we have had lots of discussions with FICA and player representative groups and there has been some recognition of FICA,” said Gray. “But there is a problem as some countries are opposed to FICA as they don’t believe players should be represented in this way so whether this measure will be approved I can’t say.”