ICC at tethers end on sponsorship row, says Speed

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Tuesday, November 19, 2002, 22:25 [IST]

New Delhi: With less than three months to go for the World Cup in South Africa, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is still unsure of finding a mutually acceptable solution to the vexed issue of players' contracts.

As part of its intensified efforts to find a 'creative solution' to the issue that almost jeopardised the Champions Trophy tournament in Sri Lanka in September, ICC's chief executive officer Malcolm Speed will hold talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the sponsors here in the next couple of days. He told reporters on Tuesday that ICC was very hopeful of finding a way out but could not guarantee a solution. "We do not guarantee that a solution would be found. But our primary concern is to look for a solution that works for everyone and all our energies are directed towards that aim," Speed said. The issue involves a controversial clause in the players' terms form for ICC tournaments that bars cricketers from endorsing products which are in conflict of interest with the official sponsors of the event, for a period of 30 days on either side of the tournament. The Indian players had refused to sign the mandatory form and participated in Champions Trophy only after ICC made an exception and agreed to reduce the restriction period to 17 days after the event. Speed said the understanding reached between ICC and the Indian players ahead of the Champions Trophy that paved the way for the participation of the best Indian team in the tournament was "a very pragmatic solution". "But it is not to say that the same or similar solution would be arrived at for the World Cup too," he said. Speed said he would meet the Indian players only if the BCCI wanted it. "It is not proposed that we meet the players. We deal with the national Boards. It is for the Boards to communicate with the players. But if the Indian Board asks us to meet the players, as was the case before the Champions Trophy, then we will be happy to meet them." Speed admitted that the ambush-marketing clause was very complicated. "But there can not be anything as complicated that cannot be resolved," he said. Stressing that ICC did not want a confrontation with the players or the Boards, he said all the 14 countries had signed the Participating Nations Agreement for next year's World Cup and were under obligation to obtain the signatures of their players on the Players' Terms form. "One option before us is to tell the Boards that it's your job to ensure the signature of your best players. But that would be a confrontationist approach. We want to find a creative solution that works well for sponsors, broadcasters, players and the Boards," he said. "A reasonable problem has emerged and we are all trying to sort that out as soon as possible," he said while refusing to set a deadline for finding a solution. Speed also declined to go into the likely solutions that could emerge from his discussions with the Indian Board and the sponsors. "That would be speculating," he said. Asked about the return of Sahara as the Indian team's sponsors, Speed said the matter was before a sub-committee set up to deal specifically with such issues. Sahara's airline business is in clash of interest with South African Airways, one of the official sponsors of ICC.