JOHANNESBURG, March 18: Imtiaz Patel’s appointment as the next chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is “not a done deal”, according to his current employers, the SuperSport television company in South Africa.

“Nothing has been formalised yet,” SuperSport spokesman Guy Hawthorne said on Tuesday.

“It’s a personal issue for Imtiaz but it is something Multichoice [the parent company of SuperSport] board will get involved in. They won’t want to lose a man of his calibre.”

Patel was not at his desk on Tuesday and could not immediately be contacted on his mobile phone.

Patel, 43, has been chief executive of SuperSport since 2005 and if he takes up the ICC job he will bring wide experience of the high-finance world of television sports coverage after being involved in some of the biggest deals in South African sports history.

The ICC announced from their Dubai headquarters on Monday that Patel was the preferred candidate to take over from Australian Malcolm Speed at the end of June.

Patel joined SuperSport in 2000 after a stint as director of professional cricket with the United Cricket Board of South Africa.

He was thought to be the logical successor to Ali Bacher as chief executive but moved to the television company when he felt his path to the top job was being blocked. Gerald Majola subsequently was appointed to head South African cricket.

Under Patel’s leadership, SuperSport, a subscription channel, have changed the sporting landscape in South Africa.

The company holds the rights to virtually all major sporting events in the country.

In June 2007, SuperSport acquired the rights to local football for 1.6-billion rand (200-million dollars) over five years, wresting them from the national free-to-air station SABC.

The deal caused outrage among football fans and was criticised in parliament, although the row was resolved when SABC were allowed to screen 143 matches a year.

In February, SuperSport tied up the rights to local rugby matches until 2015.

Meanwhile, Patel said he will decide in the next few weeks whether to take over as ICC chief executive.

“I am humbled the ICC has stated it will invite me to fulfil such an important role within cricket, a sport that has a very special place in my heart,” the 43-year-old Patel said in a news release issued by Supersport on Tuesday.

“I will therefore be considering my position very carefully during the coming weeks and will be engaging in discussions with the ICC during this period.”—Agencies