Cup clouds drift away

Cricket fans can now officially pull out all stops, if they haven’t already been pulled out. A deal struck between the International Cr...

Cricket fans can now officially pull out all stops, if they haven’t already been pulled out. A deal struck between the International Cricket Council and the BCCI means India’s top cricketers will be taking part in next month’s World Cup in southern Africa.

At its executive board meeting in London, the ICC decided that the commercial issues would be taken up after the World Cup and, as a guarantee, it would withhold India’s $9 million share of the world cup revenue.

The Indian team, it said, was being cleared to participate though the players had

only conditionally signed the player terms. In Kolkata, BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya welcomed the decision and said the contract issue would be resolved in course of time. ‘‘The best thing is that the Indian team is going to the world cup. We are putting up our best team.’’

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However, the truce is temporary — till the Cup — and more of a face-saver for both cricket boards. The ICC has stressed that the commercial issues will be resolved after the World Cup vis-a-vis the series of steps outlined by them to ensure the BCCI’s compliance with the full agreement after the World Cup is over:

• The BCCI accepting responsibility for any claims for compensation from the ICC’s commercial partners as a result of the Indian team signing altered contracts.

• Pending the outcome of any arbitration process, the ICC will retain India’s $9 million World Cup distribution.

• The ICC board will recommend India’s suspension from the world body if the BCCI refuses to pay the compensation determined by the arbitration process.

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ICC chief Malcolm Gray said the patch-up will ensure that the ICC can protect the commercial interests of the game around the world through the agreed process to deal with these issues. The alteration to the Player Terms in the case of India will see the exclusion period for tournament sponsors limited to just the period of the event and limitations placed on the use of player images in promotional campaigns.