Referee dispute leaves cricket match up in the air

Allalhabad students protest the ICC referee's verdict accusing Sachin Tendulkar of bringing the game into disrepute

NEW DELHI (CNN) -- A dispute over a referee has left the fate of a scheduled cricket match between Indian and South Africa up in the air.

Cricket officials in both countries said they have decided to play the match in Johannesburg without the disputed referee, Michael Dennes, but an international cricket organization said that move would render the match unofficial.

The dispute began during a match Tuesday when Dennes imposed what India termed "excessive" penalties on six Indian cricket players.

Dennes had handed five Indian players match suspension sentences and asked them to pay fines for appealing too loudly and too often against referee decisions. Dennes had also imposed a suspended match sentence and a fine on India cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar for tampering with the ball, an allegation Tendulkar denies.

The penalties prompted a furor in India, with furious cricket fans taking to the streets and even angry scenes in the Indian parliament in protest against Dennes' decision, which critics labeled "racially motivated."

The Board for Cricket Control of India had appealed to the International Cricket Committee to replace Dennes for Friday's match, a demand the ICC rejected on Wednesday.

In response, the Indian cricket board and the South African cricket board said they have decided to play Friday's match without Denness and will disregard the ICC's decision to retain him.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the Indian cricket board chairman, said the two boards of the two countries felt they had no choice.

But ICC President Malcolm Speed said if the two teams disregard the organization in this manner, then the match between them would be declared unofficial, and no scores from the game would be entered in ICC official books.