News

West Indies board seeks to resolve contracts issue

The ongoing sponsorship row between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the Players Association has moved closer to a resolution with the board setting a deadline of February 28 to sort out the contractual issue

Cricinfo staff
Will the rancour be settled before the home series againt South Africa? © Getty Images
The ongoing sponsorship row between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the Players Association has moved closer to a resolution with the board setting a deadline of February 28 to sort out the contracts issue. The two parties, who have been at loggerheads since last December, had suffered a setback with the leaked memo prepared by the team sponsor Digicel. The representative of the sponsor accused the players of focussing more on off-field activities rather than on it, an allegation denied by the players. However, Digicel has assured its continual support to the team.

Loading ...

"The WICB, after examination of the respective positions, reiterated its desire that everything should be done to conclude the negotiations by February 28 well in advance of the beginning of the 2005 home series on March 29," remarked Leonard Robertson, WICB's corporate communications manager, following a directors' meeting in Barbodos last weekend.

"The chief executive officer provided an update on the negotiations between the WICB and the WIPA which are aimed at securing Retainer Contracts, a Collective Labour Agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, a Players' Code of Conduct, and a Match/Tour Contract."

The crux of the problem is the clash between players' obligations with the new sponsor, Digicel, and the players' individual endorsements with their rival, Cable and Wireless.

Robertson said: "The CEO indicated that priority was being given to concluding agreements on Clause 5 of the Match/Tour Contract, which deals with Sponsorships and Endorsements, and on the level of sponsorship fees."

The WICB has revealed that the source of the leak of the memo to the media was not someone within the Board. Robertson said that the directors of the WICB considered the tour reports on the recently concluded VB Series in Australia from the manager Tony Howard, coach Bennett King, and media liaison officer Imran Khan and have committed the reports and their recommendations to its follow-up process.

"As part of the follow-up process," Robertson said, "the directors expressed an intention to seek a meeting with Digicel to have the substantive issues arising out of the publication of the document resolved. The process will be conducted in a manner that ensures fairness to the players, the sponsor and the WICB."

West Indies