ICC Development (International) Ltd (IDI), the commercial arm of the ICC, said its Player Contracts Committee has met for the first time via telephone to consider the thorny issue of player terms for the tournament, following on from the fiasco which threatened to disrupt the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year.
The row centres around sponsorship deals signed by individual players and the major corporate deals signed by cricket's governing body. The ICC wants players to scrap or suspend personal endorsements during and around major events to prevent clashes with their commercial partners.
IDI Chairman, Malcolm Gray, said that the committee was able to consider the submissions from cricket boards and players which identified their concerns and that it was now working through the issues raised.
“The submissions received were valuable in clearly identifying the concerns over the player terms.” said Gray.
“These concerns are not new and were well publicised in the lead up to the ICC Champions Trophy. In essence, they deal with the commercial obligations that all boards have agreed to for their players.
“While the issues are not new, they remain complex and difficult and the recent meeting was just the first step in seeking to resolve these matters.
“There is a good deal of work to be done and the committee must now work through the issues with all of the ICC stakeholders involved, including our commercial partners, in order to resolve the matter well before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003.”
The Player Contracts Committee comprises:
•IDI chairman, Malcolm Gray
•ICC vice president, Ehsan Mani
•IDI managing director, Malcolm Speed
•Chairman of the Australian Cricket Board, Bob Merriman
•President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Jagmohan Dalmiya
•Former Zimbabwean judge, Ahmed Ibrahim, as an independent member.
The committee was formed by the IDI board at its October meeting.
