Carib Breweries has officially withdrawn its 2009 sponsorship of an annual four-day Regional Tournament run by the The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
According to a release from the WICB, Carib chose to not renew their contract because they could not accurately calculate the cost of the tournament and would be required to protect their interests given “the unpredictable nature of the 2009 economy”.
The loss of the Carib sponsorship comes in a year when the WICB has already lost one major sponsor in Kentucky Fried Chicken.
A second major investor in West Indian Cricket, Sir Allen Stanford, is currently reviewing his involvement in the sport and could also be on his way out.
Despite its financial woes, the WICB stated that the regional four-day cricket tournaments would go on as scheduled. “This year…the WICB decided to finance the entire regional tournament through its own cricket development funds,” the WICB said.
The WICB release also stated that the Board is “continuing to work with other potential sponsors, but in the interim, the 2009 tournament will be billed ‘the WICB four-day Regional Tournament’”.
