Charity ends with ICC Champions Trophy, say sponsors

Days after the International Cricket Council's (ICC's) highest officials - Malcolm Gray and Malcolm Speed - had assured that they would sit down with all concerned parties to sort out player contract terms, the sponsors have hastened to clarify their stand, warning that charity would end with the ICC Champions Trophy.

Even though the ICC agreed to compensate the official sponsors for damages incurred by the uncertainty of participation of a few major teams like India, Australia and England, sponsors are adamant that no more concessions will be made in the future.

According to media reports, the two official sponsors for the ICC events, LG Electronics India and Hero Honda have spoken out strongly, warning that they would not sacrifice commercial interests for future fixtures. Atul Sobti, senior vice-president of Hero Honda, was quoted as saying, "In the interest of sending the best Indian national team, we agreed to reduce the 30 days provision to 17 days".

Sobti was emphatic that, as a business organisation, it was difficult to be charitable beyond a certain point, and that he wished to see the matter resolved immediately.

With the 2003 World Cup only a few months away, there is a certain level of uneasiness in every camp with regard to the player terms. The ICC has inserted an ambush-marketing clause in the contract to protect the official sponsors, and the Indian team will be particularly affected by the clause. It is estimated that US$280 million of the us$550-million sponsorship deal with the ICC has come from companies with commercial interests in India, in view with the huge television audience in the country.

The Indian players are now trying to set up a player-represetative body to negotiate on their behalf, and the sponsors are making a move in that direction as well. Ganesh Mahalingam of LG Electronics said, "The time is probably right for a sponsors' union, because their interests need to be protected also, given the huge investments in the game."

Even though the concessions made by the sponsors ensured that all the nations have sent in their best team to the Champions Trophy, the issue of player terms needs to be resolved at the earliest. With the Indian players putting their feet down and refusing to sign the original contract, it is now the turn of the sponsors to fire warning shots about their equally firm position.