WICB Stance Fails Smell Test

The last sponsorship contract between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and Cable & Wireless gave the telephone company explicit permission to pursue individual sponsorship deals with West Indies players.

That's why it's more than strange that the board is now attempting to use the infamous Clause 1K of its match/tour contract to invalidate C&W deals with Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo.

Here's Clause 3.9 of the WICB's deal with C&W:

WICB agrees that C&W shall be entitled to engage Players to undertake advertising or promotional work on behalf of C&W in addition to that set out in this Schedule 1 on terms to be agreed between C&W and such Players.

That clause, which has been submitted to Caricom arbitrator Judge Adrian Saunders, essentially validates the players' association stance that private endorsement deals have been -- and should remain -- entirely separate from team sponsorship.

Judge Saunders has been asked to interpret Clause 1K, which mandates that the player must get permission from the WICB if he signs an advertising deal "as a member of the team."

The WICB is arguing that Sarwan, Gayle and Bravo did not get permission to sign with Cable & Wireless but WIPA's position is that such permission was not needed.

In its brief to the arbitrator, WIPA insists the three contracts were individual private endorsements and did not include any reference to membership on the West Indies team.

Even so, the private endorsements were signed at a time when C&W was the major sponsor and when the board's contract explicitly allowed such deals, as seen with the clause quoted above.

A WICB source who was intimately involved with the C&W dealings told me the board "actively encouraged" private endorsements as a way for players to subsidise their income.

Now, the board is doing a complete about-face under the guise of "protecting the interest of the game in the region."

The truth is that the board was caught napping and C&W swooped in to ensure visibility even after it was replaced as a major sponsor by rival Digicel.

It is not clear what exactly was sold to Digicel by the WICB or what promises were made regarding private player endorsements. The secretive nature of the WICB does not allow for such disclosure but the insistence that those C&W contracts aren't valid certainly raises questions about whether private endorsement rights were sold to Digicel.

From the look of things, it certainly appears so.

Why else would the WICB be refusing to budge on Clause 5 of the match/tour contract for the upcoming one-day series in Australia?

That Clause, which has been tied to selection eligibility, would give the WICB "sole and exclusive right" to permit any person to represent that they have the sponsorship or approval of, or are in any way endorsed with the WICB or any WICB team.

Beyond that, it attempts to throw out pre-existing player endorsements with companies that compete with the WICB's sponsor unless those contracts were "approved in writing" by the WICB.

The WICB's hard-nosed position is bound to backfire. The arbitrator's ruling will help to clarify things but, contrary to expectations, won't settle the dispute altogether.

The two sides are still miles apart on Clause 5 and the initial negotiations on the split of the Digicel pie are off to a rocky start.

The West Indies team leaves for Australia in 13 days and, from the look of things, it will come down to the 11th hour with lots of chest-thumping and public posturing.

Just another day at the WICB office.