Delhi High Court backs Indian cricketers in contract dispute

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered the government not to release foreign exchange to sponsors if India is banned from taking part in next month's cricket World Cup, reports said.

The court, ruling on a public interest litigation filed by former cricket great Kapil Dev and five others, said the tournament sponsors should also be restrained from telecasting advertisements on Indian channels.

The order is, however, unlikely to be enforced amid reports that the International Cricket Council (ICC) will allow India's leading players to take part in the World Cup despite changing the terms of their contracts.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to announce later today whether it will agree to the compromise proposed by the ICC.

Kapil, a former World Cup-winning captain, had moved the Delhi High Court last week to ensure India's top cricketers took part in the tournament to be played in Africa from February 8 to March 23.

In the event of the players being banned, the litigation wanted the finance ministry to withdraw all tax benefits to the tournament's official sponsors hailing from India.

At least three of the four major World Cup sponsors - Pepsi, Hero Honda and LG Electronics - have major interests in the lucrative Indian market.

Some of India's best known lawyers, former law minister Arun Jaitley, Kapil Sibal and Harish Salve, argued the litigation on behalf of Kapil and the other plaintiffs.

ICC sources in London told AFP yesterday that Indian players could take part in the World Cup, but the ICC will not release the Cup bonus of "eight to nine million dollars" due to India until the dispute was resolved after the tournament.

Sources also warned that if the BCCI failed to pay any compensation arising from its players' altered contracts, it would be suspended from the ICC and so become a rebel cricket nation.

India's entire World Cup squad objected to the ICC ruling which prohibits players from endorsing non-official sponsors before, during and after the World Cup.