January 9, 2003	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 5, 1423

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LONDON, Jan 8: A sponsorship row threatening India’s participation in the cricket World Cup might end up in the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

After earlier talks stalled, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is working to break the impasse with India by Jan 14, the deadline for players to sign their tournament contracts.

Sources close to the negotiations said this could mean the sport’s world governing body calling on the Indian cricket board to take the long-running wrangle to CAS, a highly respected independent body set up to rule on sports disputes.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the head of the BCCI resigned last month from the ICC’s World Cup contract committee, set up to solve the issue, before calling for independent mediation as the only way forward.

The sponsorship issue dates back several months and almost led to an Indian player boycott of the ICC Champions Trophy limited-overs tournament in September.

The ICC, in trying to protect its official event sponsors from ‘ambush marketing’, ordered players to freeze their advertsing contracts with rival companies.

India’s top players, who earn far more from advertising than from playing, rebelled, arguing they were not consulted and that the ICC had no right to sell their image rights. Their stance won the backing of other players around the world.

The ICC offered a series of compromises which quelled the rebellion and ensured that all teams took part in the Champions Trophy.

The same issue, however, has flared up again in India, where the Indian board’s shifting position has created further confusion.

Dalmiya signed up to the World Cup contract in March but is now supporting his own players in opposing it.

While presenting himself as a champion of players’ rights, however, he rejected an ICC move to give them more representation at the end of last year and has also been reluctant to deal with a newly established players’ association in India.

Dalmiya says he fears the Indian board could face legal action — either from event sponsors if India fails to field a full-strength team at the World Cup, or player sponsors disgruntled that they have has to suspend existing agreements during the tournament.—Reuters