ICC declines to recognise Players' Association

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Thursday, January 1, 1970, 5:30 [IST]

Colombo: Cricket's world governing body on Tuesday rejected moves to recognise a Players' Association, raising fears of a prolonged battle to settle contracts for next year's World Cup.

"Five of the 10 Test-playing Boards are not in favour of a Players Association," International Cricket Council (ICC) president Malcolm Gray told reporters after an Executive Board meeting. Gray declined to name the five countries, but ICC sources said India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the West Indies were against recognising a players' body. Players from these five countries do not have their own association, thereby making them ineligible to join the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA). FICA officials were seeking a greater role in negotiating players' contracts with the ICC, especially the contentious ambush marketing clauses, which prohibit players from endorsing rival sponsors for 30 days before and after an ICC event. Top Indian stars such as Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly, who enjoy lucrative personal sponsorships, refused to sign the contracts until the ICC watered down the clause to ensure the participation of a full-strength Indian team for the recent Champions Trophy. But with the players still wary of the contracts they may be asked to sign before the World Cup in South Africa in February-March next year, the ICC on Tuesday appointed a five-member committee to resolve all concerns. The committee will include Gray, ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed, vice-president Ehsan Mani and the heads of the Australian and Indian cricket Boards, Bob Merriman and Jagmohan Dalmiya. "The lead-in to the Champions Trophy highlighted that there are issues that need to be resolved in relation to the players' terms," Gray admitted. "The ICC has now put in place a process to deal with these issues and this will be done over the coming weeks."