Asif Iqbal has resigned as Chief Co-ordinator of the Cricketers' Benefit Fund Series in Sharjah, according to the daily newspaper, The News.

The former captain of Pakistan blamed increased politics in cricket for his decision to quit after 20 years with the organisation, said the report. "It's just beyond me to deal with these political shenanigans," he said.

Asif criticised the Indian government for banning the national side from participating in tournaments in Sharjah, Toronto and Singapore for three years.

He said: "I think it is a joke to equate Sharjah with Singapore or Toronto and to call it a non-regular venue.

"The CBFS has staged the largest number of One-Day Internationals of any venue in the world; hundreds of cricketers from all over the world but, in particular, from the south Asian subcontinent have been awarded benefits and the total amount paid in benefits would run up to millions of dollars. The comparison of Sharjah with other offshore venues is therefore not even worthy of a comment."

He was proud of the CBFS's achievements over the years but was upset that India would not be playing in Sharjah, said the report. "Getting India and Pakistan to play together in spite of their political differences was no easy matter," he said.

"It is sad that this one remaining avenue for exchange has also now been snuffed out, and I do not think cricketing factors have much to do with it; it has more to do with the internal politics of Indian cricket and the Indian government seems to have got itself involved in all that.

"It really is no business of the government to decide what is or is not a fit venue, other than from a political viewpoint. That is for the BCCI to investigate and decide."

Asif thanked the cricket boards of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for helping to give Sharjah the status it currently enjoyed.

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