Dehring admits World Cup too long, promises to rectify in 2011

Sydney, Apr 12 (UNI) After repeated complaints from the players regarding the fixture of the Caribbean World Cup, at last the chief executive of the mega event has admitted that the seven-week Cup is too long and said the officials will rectify the mistake in 2011 edition in the subcontinent.

''One of the shortfalls of the last World Cup in South Africa was rain. So we decided this time to make sure you had adequate reserve days for every game and that is what has elongated the tournament,'' Chris Dehring told The Daily Telegraph.

''It is difficult to maintain momentum in an event over such a long period. We would have preferred a shorter event had it been possible but to do that there would not have been rain days. But I am certain it will change in 2011,'' he added.

The Jamaica-based chief executive had also fired back at criticism that inflated ticket prices and security crackdowns ave ruined the Caribbean event.

''The lower-end ticket prices were certainly cheaper than what they were for a standard one-day international in the West Indies,'' Dehring said.

The Cup organisers have been under constant criticism for a perceived crackdown on musical instruments inside the ground citing security reasons, but Dehring, while conceding there were some flaws in the system, feels that the matter has been unnecessarily blown out of proportion.

UNI