Indians against ICC
sponsorship contract

Indian cricketers are reluctant to sign an International Cricket Council contract which bars them from undertaking endorsements that conflict with the interests of authorised sponsors, officials said on Thursday.

"Indian players have raised objections to the contract. That is what we are discussing," Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah said during a special board meeting called to discuss the issue.

The ICC has drawn up a "conflict of interest" contract with Test countries which also bars such team sponsorships 30 days before and after ICC events.

The contract bans team and player endorsements by companies in the same line of business as ICC's sponsors for major events like next month's Champions trophy tournament in Sri Lanka and the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

ICC has set a deadline of August 12 for players to sign the contract.

Many leading Indian players endorse a wide range of products through newspaper and television advertisements and domestic media has reported they would stand to lose considerable sums of money if they agree to the contract.

BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said other country players have also opposed the 30-day clause for ICC tournaments.

He also said the Indian team's sponsorship by a domestic company Sahara, which owns the country's third largest airline, has been objected to by main World Cup sponsor South African airlines over a conflict of business interests.

But the BCCI has told the ICC there is no conflict of interest because the company has other interests like para-banking and media.

"It does not mean conflict of interest," he said, adding that Sahara has been asked to give their response on the issue.

Dalmiya said the ICC had in June accepted BCCI's explanation, but South African airlines has raised objections again after recent advertisements by Sahara, including those endorsed by top India players.

Mail Cricket Editor