ICC face 50-million-pound compensation claim

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is likely to face a compensation claim of 50 million pounds from the Global Cricket Corporation (GCC), which holds TV rights for all ICC tournaments until 2007. According to a report in The Independent, the ICC are unlikely to back down in the face of the claim.

The GCC, after having paid US$550 million for the TV rights, claims that the cancelled England-Zimbabwe and New Zealand-Kenya World Cup matches, along with ambush marketing of the official sponsors in India, have resulted in a considerable loss of revenue.

Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the ICC, said: "The ICC have responded to all these challenges. Some of the issues remain unresolved, but overall the ICC took on a greater role for leading the sport." Although the ICC "concede that they will have to forfeit some money," they may look towards the Indian board (BCCI) to bear some of the costs as compensation for disregarding the ambush-marketing clause even after signing the Participating Nations Agreement.