abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
The International Cricket Council (ICC) managed to secure $550 million through a commercial rights agreement for all ICC-run events through 2007, with Global Cricketing Corporation (GCC).
The contract included sponsors like, South African Airlines, Hero Honda, Pepsi, LG and others.
However, the contract signed by the ICC and GCC had two major clauses:
One relating to Ambush Marketing which prohibited a player from endorsing products that rivaled those of the official sponsors' for a period of 30 days before and after the tournament and during the tournament.
The imaging clause, which allowed the official sponsors of the tournament to use images of participating players for up to six months after the event
This contract was signed by the boards of participating countries. However, the players of the Indian Cricketing team rejected to go along with this agreement since, they already had long term commitments with rival companies of those that sponsored the event. Anil Kumble, ace legspinner of Indian Cricket team said it was a matter of Integrity and not Money.
The standoff between the ICC and the Indian players continued for more than 40 days with both the Indian players and the ICC refusing to budge. The governing body for Indian cricket, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also agreed to compensate the players for any losses that may occur due to non compliance of their contracts.
At a meeting between the Indian Cricket Players and the ICC a common point was met. The new terms of the contract were.
- Reducing the duration of the ambush clause from 30 days before and after the event and during the event to 17 days after the event and during the event.
The BCCI however, did not agree to these terms as it made BCCI susceptible to claims of ICC and its sponsors for financial losses.
Only after the BCCI got indemnity from such claims did it allow the Indian Players to participate in the agreement.
It was a momentary truce before the tempers between the BCCI and the ICC rose again. The ICC asked the Indian Board to remove the logo of the Indian team sponsor Sahara from the team shirts since; it was considered to be a competitor of South African Airlines who was an official sponsor of the ICC champions’ trophy.
Sahara decided to put the name Subrata instead of Sahara on Indian team shirts. However, this too was rejected by the ICC.
Finally, Sahara decided to snap its relations of an official sponsor with the Indian Cricket team.
The contract included sponsors like, South African Airlines, Hero Honda, Pepsi, LG and others.
However, the contract signed by the ICC and GCC had two major clauses:
One relating to Ambush Marketing which prohibited a player from endorsing products that rivaled those of the official sponsors' for a period of 30 days before and after the tournament and during the tournament.
The imaging clause, which allowed the official sponsors of the tournament to use images of participating players for up to six months after the event
This contract was signed by the boards of participating countries. However, the players of the Indian Cricketing team rejected to go along with this agreement since, they already had long term commitments with rival companies of those that sponsored the event. Anil Kumble, ace legspinner of Indian Cricket team said it was a matter of Integrity and not Money.
The standoff between the ICC and the Indian players continued for more than 40 days with both the Indian players and the ICC refusing to budge. The governing body for Indian cricket, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also agreed to compensate the players for any losses that may occur due to non compliance of their contracts.
At a meeting between the Indian Cricket Players and the ICC a common point was met. The new terms of the contract were.
- Reducing the duration of the ambush clause from 30 days before and after the event and during the event to 17 days after the event and during the event.
The BCCI however, did not agree to these terms as it made BCCI susceptible to claims of ICC and its sponsors for financial losses.
Only after the BCCI got indemnity from such claims did it allow the Indian Players to participate in the agreement.
It was a momentary truce before the tempers between the BCCI and the ICC rose again. The ICC asked the Indian Board to remove the logo of the Indian team sponsor Sahara from the team shirts since; it was considered to be a competitor of South African Airlines who was an official sponsor of the ICC champions’ trophy.
Sahara decided to put the name Subrata instead of Sahara on Indian team shirts. However, this too was rejected by the ICC.
Finally, Sahara decided to snap its relations of an official sponsor with the Indian Cricket team.