Dubai, Sept 26 (ZEENEWS.COM) The International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday confirmed it will start meetings with broadcasters and agencies in Dubai from today.

The meetings mark the latest stage of its sale of media and sponsorship rights for ICC events from late 2007 to 2015, the ICC said in a statement yesterday.

ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed said in the statement, "the sale of the ICC's commercial and broadcast rights makes this a hugely significant and exciting time for cricket.

"That sale gives us the opportunity to place cricket on a sound financial footing for the next eight years and, by doing that, it will provide all our members with the chance to both sustain and grow the game."

Included in the eight-year period under discussion are 18 ICC tournaments with two ICC cricket World Cups, in Asia (2011) and Australasia (2015), and a minimum of three ICC Champions Trophy tournaments.

Also included are the first two ICC Twenty20 world championships, in South Africa (2007) and England (2009), the latter taking place in the ICC's centenary year.

And there are cricket World Cup qualifiers, four ICC U/19 cricket world Cups, and, for the first time, the women's cricket World Cup, with two tournaments scheduled for 2009 (Australia) and 2013 (India) in the eight-year timeframe.