Q&A: Digicel Director Seamus Lynch
A few months ago, when it was clear that individual player endorsements with Cable & Wireless would clash with Digicel's sponsorship of West Indies cricket, I asked then Digicel chief executive Seamus Lynch to discuss his company's position on the looming controversy.
These are excerpts from that interview where Lynch (who has since joined Digicel's board of directors) talks about the "duties and deliverables" expected from the WICB and the tactics being used by C&W and individual players...
On whether Digicel is pressuring the WICB to drop players with Cable & Wireless endorsement deals...
We have a contract with the WICB. There are duties and deliverables on behalf of the WICB and we expect them to deliver on those. We entered into this contract in good faith; we expect the same from the WICB. We expect the WICB to do what is right.
Our competition is doing all it can to undermine cricket in the West Indies. They don't have the interest of West Indies cricket at heart.
We have protections built into our contract to avoid ambush marketing and competitor poaching. It is up to the WICB to deliver those protections.
On the moves by Cable & Wireless to sign individual deals...
They are trying to sign individual players on a case-by-case basis. They never engaged in this activity in the past so it's quite clear to everyone that they are trying scupper our agreement with the WICB and the West Indian public.
We have put up a huge amount of money into this investment and we expect to be protected. We're putting in excess of $20 million over five years. This is the largest contract in the history of West Indies cricket.
We would like to see this issue resolved. We are having discussions with the WICB to get everything settled in the long term interest of West Indies cricket. It is bad faith on the part of Cable and Wireless to pursue individual deals with the players. They are giving the finger to all cricket fans across the Caribbean.
Cable & Wireless has no interest in the players. They have no interest in West Indies cricket. They have elevated all their money back into sponsorship deals for the ICC World Cup. These are short-term tactics designed to undermine us.
It amounts to sour grapes and bad sportsmanship to try to bring down the WICB.
On what is expected from the WICB to resolve the issue...
It is up to the WICB to manage this and get it straightened out. They have to take whatever steps they feel are necessary to protect their entity. The board is trying to bring West Indies cricket into the 21st century. West Indies cricket has problems and has been in the doldrums for a long time. For the first time you are seeing a company that is willing to recognise the value of one of the big brand names in the region.
The cricket board has to protect that brand. They need to take a firm and hard line and need to exercise whatever control they need to do to protect their entity.
I'll give you an example; the England cricket team is sponsored by Vodafone. Do you think they would tolerate Orange sponsoring individual players? That cannot be allowed to happen. The WICB has to try to catch up with all the cricket boards around the world. They have to protect their interest, their brand name and their entity. The ECB has done this and WICB is trying to do it now.
You just can't have one company swiping away and trying to exercise their control over players individually.
Isn't there a big difference between English players who are under fulltime contract to the ECB and West Indies cricketers who are contracted on a part-time basis from tour to tour?
Yes, there is. That's why it's in everyone's interest to get centralised player contracts all year round. The players benefit, the WICB benefits and the sponsors benefit from that. It has to be annualised so the players can plan their lives around that. That way, the WICB gets certain control over what contracted players can or can't do.
The WICB is running a business and they are trying to bring the business into the 21st century. They need sponsors to get in behind them to help energise the game in the region. We are genuinely interested in investing in cricket in the Caribbean. We want to energise the game and attract young players to cricket.
On whether Cable & Wireless simply exploited a loophole...
The WICB, in their own right, must realise that in order to grow and develop West Indies cricket, they need to introduce a new style of management.
Why didn't Cable and Wireless sponsor individual players over the last 15 years? What is the real objective of C&W sponsoring individual players now? They don't have the interest of anyone in the Caribbean at heart. They're proving that clearly.
You can't have a situation where one company is investing money in your product and another company, a competitor, is trying to swipe everything away. You can't have another company trying to exercise their control over players individually.
Getting Lara and Sarwan in their camp is not a coup. It amounts to negative tactics and behaviour. It won't be tolerated anywhere else in the world. Some might see it as exploitation of a loophole but it smacks of dirty tricks to bring down the WICB. This is the action of bullies.
We will give the WICB whatever assistance they need. We will stand by and support them. C&W is basically trying to antagonise us out of the deal so they can walk in and get it for little or nothing.
We are very surprised by the approach of some of the individual players in terms of signing those deals. They're not looking down the road about what can and may well happen.
On the conspicuous absence of Brian Lara from the ceremony to announce the Digicel sponsorship in England...
It was very upsetting not to have the West Indies captain at the launch of a major sponsorship deal. He made his decision not to go. He obviously had his own motives and reasons. He is getting a financial incentive from our competitor.
It is up to the captain to show leadership to his players. With the team going through this transition, the captain has an obligation to look out for the future of West Indies cricket. He has a great reputation as a cricketer but it could all be tarnished over this. It depends on Lara himself to take a very strong view in terms of what he wants his legacy to be.