Sport management is a generally neglected and under-rated sector
in sports in this part of the world. It has seldom been
professional or competent, but of late with the injection of, and
the effect that money has been having on sportsmen and women, it
has seemed that incompetence is either growing, or being more
exposed as lawyers and negotiators come into the picture.
The latest two events in the cricket fraternity demonstrate this
spectacularly.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) says there is no purpose to
convening a new round of negotiations with WIPA unless the
association is willing to review
its position on Clause 5 of the match/tour contract for the
upcoming one-day series in Australia.
"The Board has never sought to assume ownership of the
individual rights of the players or requested them to forego these
rights," the WICB said, insisting that the controversial
Clause 5 seeks to protect the interests of the Board, the
players and the sponsors.
In a time when professional athletes are earning millions
through endorsements, the WICB and WIPA are locked in a struggle
over the rights to control player images. On one side is the WICB,
which contend that they have a right to indefinite ownership of a
player's image and by extension his endorsement rights, and on the
other WIPA, which thinks that players should retain such
rights.
After a marathon fourteen hour negotiating session, neither side
is any closer to a solution, and with the WICB threatening not to
select players who have not signed the offered contract, WIPA are
accusing the WICB of acting in bad faith. At a time when the team
seemed to be on an upswing after winning the ICC Champions Trophy
for the first time, fans are left to wonder if our cricket really
needs this type of animus between the two camps.
The West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) is again calling on
the WICB to return to the negotiation table, with or without an
independent mediator.
Reacting to the WICB's
insistence that a controversial clause covering player
endorsements won't be removed from the match/tour contract, WIPA
said it "wholly believes that the players can fulfil their
respective obligations and maintain their right to personal
endorsement without conflict."
A marathon 14-hour negotiation session between the West Indies
Cricket Board (WICB) and the players' association has ended in a
stalemate with the board refusing to budge on the controversial
Clause 5 in the match and tour contract for the upcoming
triangular one-day tournament in Australia.
The WICB said the issue boiled down to a "fundamental
difference" over the issue of players' individual endorsement deals
and how they clash with the board's major sponsors. The board is
also sticking to the original 10-day deadline for players to accept
the terms of the deal on the table.
