World Cup Contracts Finally Signed but...

Tue, Mar 20, '07

 

by RYAN PATRICK

West Indies players have finally received contracts from the WICB for Cricket World Cup 2007 but the absence of pension (Provident Fund) contributions has set off alarm bells among the cricketers.

The contract were sent to the players on Wednesday, March 14, 2007, a full week after the start of the tournament and more than a month after an arbitration panel headed by Barbados chief justice Sir David Simmons gave a binding ruling on how the $11.5 million World Cup pot should be split.

The West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has advised the players to sign the contracts, with certain attached provisos.

According to a statement from WIPA:

"Immediately on receiving the contracts, WIPA sought legal advice, and advised the players to sign, notwithstanding the fact that the contracts deviated from certain agreed provisions. These will be referred to further arbitration in order to avoid any distractions or undue concerns on the part of our players."

It is understood that the WICB has unilaterally altered the match contracts, removing clauses that cover contributions to the Provident Fund, which serves as the pension plan for all West Indies cricketers.

According to the match/tour contracts for the recent ICC Champions Trophy and DLF Cup competitions (both one-off series that fall outside of the ICC's FTP), the WICB contributes 10% of its take to the Provident Fund. However, for this World Cup, the board decided it was not going to make the Provident Fund contribution.

The players signed the contracts under the condition that the Simmons arbitration panel will determine whether the Provident Fund contribution should be made.

Sources tell CaribbeanCricket.com the WICB sought several "clarifications" on the tribunal ruling after it learned that the expected $11.5 million -- which is paid to participating nations by the ICC -- might be significantly reduced.

The Simmons tribunal then told the WICB that it must be fully transparent and prove to WIPA that the amount is reduced. The board then submitted contracts to WIPA with the full $11.5 million figure.

Another hiccup surfaced when the WICB claimed that it submitted an incorrect "management fee" covering the Mittal sponsorship. The board originally told the tribunal it was withholding 25% of the Mittal money to "service the contract" but after the tribunal ruled on how the remaining money should be split, the WICB went back to the panel to say the actual management fee was 30%.The board was then told that it can't simply raise the management fee after a ruling was issued.

The arbitrator provided an answer to these clarifications on February 27 but the WICB did not send contracts to the players for several weeks.

The absence of World Cup contracts for West Indies cricketers was first reported by CaribbeanCricket.com last week.