Wed, Jun 20, '07
by RYAN PATRICK
The long-awaited arbitration ruling is in and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has prevailed again.
The three-man arbitration panel chaired by Barbados chief justice Sir David Simmons has ruled that the current tour of England is "outside the FTP" under the terms of the MOU between WIPA and the WICB, meaning that the players' terms and conditions for the tour "will have to be negotiated separately."
"The key concern is the way in which the parties dealt with each other. If they conducted their dealings on a mistaken belief or upon mistaken assumptions, the parties will not be allowed, in equity, to resile from their formerly-held positions," the arbitrators wrote.
"On the documentary evidence we conclude that the parties before, and for at least 3 months after signing the MOU, conducted their dealings on the assumption that the tour was outside the FTP. If, in reality, it is strictly within the FTP, it would now be inequitable and unconscionable, in the context of those dealings, to hold that the England tour 2007 is within the FTP," they added.
The ruling cites a May 2006 letter from former WICB chief cricket operations officer Zorol Barthley as "powerful evidence" that the board "encouraged WIPA to believe or represented to WIPA that the England tour 2007 was outside the FTP."
[ SEE: Background on the WIPA/WICB FTP dispute ]
"It was a clear and unequivocal statement," the arbitrators said of Barthley's e-mail, adding that it would be "inequitable to allow WICB now to act contrary to its earlier position."
During the hearing, the WICB attempted to discredit Barthley's submissions to the panel with corporate services manager Tony Deyal arguing that Barthley "did not have the power or the authority to give the opinions which he gave" but the arbitrators found that it was "somewhat disconcerting that WICB should now seek to impugn Mr. Barthley’s authority."
[ SEE: Blame WICB foot-dragging for latest dispute ]
In fact, the panel found that Barthley was a "pivotal figure" in the board's operations.
"His input on the international programme was obviously crucial to the parties' deliberations and negotiations. It does not now lie in the mouth of WICB to say otherwise. And no evidence was adduced to suggest that Mr. Barthley’s e-mail was ever countermanded or subsequently recalled," according to the ruling.
In an interview with CaribbeanCricket.com, the WICB's Deyal said the board would abide by the ruling and open negotiations with WIPA on a split of the money from this tour.
