Caricom: Don't Exclude C&W Players

Fri, Mar 11, '05

In what amounts to a big victory for Cable & Wireless and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA), the Caricom sub-committee on cricket on Friday declared that private endorsements deals between C&W and seven cricketers "can coexist" with the WICB's Digicel sponsorship contract.

Grenadian prime minister Dr Keith Mitchell, who chairs the Caricom sub-committee, called on the WICB to proceed with the selection of West Indies team "based on merit and in a manner that does not retard development of West Indies cricket, now or in the future."

"[We] hope that the West Indies board will no longer exclude the seven players with Cable & Wireless contracts from the squads selected [for the upcoming home series]," Mitchell said.

Mitchell's statement, however, does not automatically solve the dispute. The Caricom declaration is only seen as a suggestion or recommendation and is not legally binding, according to a source close to the negotiations.

On the key issue of whether the C&W contracts clashed with the players' obligations to the team sponsors, the prime minister said the deals could coexist provided:

a) Players images in advertisements are limited to three (3) or less players.

b) No logos or attribution in players images that directly or indirectly link them to the team.

c) The number of contracts to be minimised to, ideally, not more than three players.

d) The players not wear cricket whites or cricket-related coloured clothing in C&W ads. The use of cricket equipment is also barred along with any film/image at a cricket venue.

e) Players must not be filmed/photographed in any WICB marks.

f) C&W must make no reference to the West Indies team.

(* EDITOR'S NOTE: The above list is paraphrased and are not direct quotes from Mitchell's statement).

Mitchell also disclosed that he had submitted the individual C&W contracts to the WICB's lawyers for perusal.

He also recommended a mid-March deadline to resolve all the outstanding issues.

The Caricom sub-committee also urged that the arbitrator's ruling on Clause 1K ( see full text here) serve as a "useful guide" to solve future interpretation disputes.

CaribbeanCricket.com understands that the WICB and WIPA plan to issue reactions to the Mitchell recommendations later this evening.

Officials from Cable & Wireless and Digicel could not be reached for comment.

More to come...