WIPA: Digicel Made 'Unjustified Demands'

President of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Dinanath Ramnarine says team sponsors Digicel made "unjustified demands" of the playes which were not covered by the match/tour contract for the VB one-day series in Australia.

Reacting to a strongly worded memo penned by Digicel's Richard Nowell, Ramnarine said the comments contained "unjustified imputations on the character and behaviour of WI players who are all members of WIPA."

"Digicel had on that tour made unjustified demands of the players which were not covered by the agreement between WIPA and the Board. WIPA by letter dated January 20th complained about those actions of the Board's sponsor and WIPA was subsequently assured by the CEO of the WICB Mr. Roger Brathwaite that it had requested of Digicel to desist from making such demands on its players," Ramnarine said.

He insisted that the players "fulfilled all their contractual obligations as specified in the tour contract."

"WIPA is quite concerned about the contents of the article and especially the scandalous labeling of itself as a "Terrorist Players' Association" by Nowell," Ramnarine said.

The WIPA chief executive said the association will seek legal advice on the article and "is fully prepared to resort to legal measures to protect itself and its members' professional reputations, which has been so cavalierly and scandalously affected by this publication."