Another television-contract dispute looms for BCCSL

The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) faces the prospect of a possible legal dispute with Taj Television, a Dubai-based sports broadcaster, if it fails to recognise a three-year television and sponsorship contract signed in October 2001.

According to BCCSL sources, the executive committee is close to an agreement that will see the Singapore-based WSG Nimbus reinstated as the BCCSL's television and sponsorship rights holder for the forthcoming England tour of Sri Lanka.

But Taj Television, who have already sold television feeds to Sky Sports for the series, and are currently selling the title and other sponsorship rights, are adamant that their contract, due to run until 2004, cannot just be brushed aside. "We have a contract with the BCCSL that is legal and binding," said Jude de Valliere, spokesman for Taj Television, in Colombo.

The deal being brokered is designed to save the BCCSL from a potentially crippling US$11 million damages claim after a Singapore arbitration court ruled that the board - led at that time by a government-appointed interim committee - had cancelled a contract with WSG Nimbus "unlawfully and illegally" in 2001 for allegedly missing payment deadlines.

"What we are hopeful to do is reduce the US$11 million damages claimed on us and ensure that future matches are televised," Mohan de Silva, the BCCSL's secretary, told AFP. "The talks have been going very well and we are hopeful of reaching an amicable settlement within a week."

The BCCSL is expected to argue that the Taj Television contract is "null and void" because it was not signed with a properly elected executive committee - even though the interim committee, which had sought the advice of the Attorney General, had been invested with government authority.