Tatas to safeguard player's interests

Tata Teleservices Ltd, the company that caused Sourav Ganguly and Irfan Pathan to be dragged into the ambush-marketing imbroglio, has said that it would act to safeguard the interest of the two players. The ICC had earlier informed the Indian board of the two players appearing in a marketing campaign for Tata Indicom, a telecom-services provider who are the direct competitors of Hutch - a main sponsor of the Champions Trophy.

In a statement released yesterday, Abdul Khan, the vice president of TTSL, said that the company will co-operate to enable Ganguly and Pathan to honour the Participating Nations Agreement which governs endorsements and advertisements by players. He also added, "TTSL has taken necessary steps to safeguard the interests of its two brand ambassadors by re-positioning the advertisements featuring them for the duration of the ICC Champions Trophy."

PTI has also reported that the marketing agents of Irfan Pathan had backed him by saying that he hadn't infringed the ambush-marketing clause. Lokesh Sharma, Pathan's manager, confirmed that the advertising campaigns featuring Pathan had been withdrawn before the start of the Champions Trophy. "Such unsubstantiated and scurrilous allegations," Sharma added, "are unfair and can have an adverse effect on the image of Pathan who is not only a disciplined, young, successful cricketer but is also referred to as a role model."