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By P. Subramanyam
It has also approved a compromise deal, which will allow India to take part in the World Cup, despite a dispute over sponsorship. The row centred on a clash between official and personal endorsements. The decision taken will mean that England will play Zimbabwe in Harare on February 13. Earlier, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had decided to play the game despite being urged by the Government to boycott it. Our New Delhi Special Correspondent writes: The ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India have now agreed to leave the final decision to an arbitration panel. As things stand, the contracts signed by the Indian players, with certain alterations, have been accepted by the ICC with the provision that the BCCI would accept any claims for compensation that may arise from the ICC's commercial partners should the final verdict through arbitration go against the BCCI. The agreement reached on Friday not only confirms that an arbitration process would be gone through at the end of the World Cup but also states that India's share from the World Cup, amounting to $ 9 millions would be retained by the ICC pending the outcome of arbitration. (The ICC release on Friday is silent on whether the BCCI has agreed to the arbitration process, though it is to be assumed that the Indian Board has done so, since without its approval there cannot be an arbitration process.) According to the ICC release, the decision was reached only "under the terms of an agreement endorsed by the ICC Executive Board during its telephone hook-up'' on Friday. "The Board decision effectively calls a truce between the ICC and the BCCI to allow the players to play by putting in place a series of steps following the tournament to resolve the commercial issues,'' it said. The release stated that the responsibility and size of the claims by the commercial partners would be determined through the arbitration process after the event. The decision by the ICC Board also states that if the BCCI refused to pay this compensation, the former would recommend that India be suspended from the ICC. On this basis, the ICC Board confirmed the decision of the ICC's World Cup Contracts Committee to permit the Indian team to take the field in South Africa. The ICC President, Malcolm Gray, said: "The agreement will see both sides put aside the commercial dispute until after the tournament to allow the best players to represent India. This agreement will see the ICC and the BCCI put the current commercial dispute aside for the period of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003. . . .It clears the way for the best team to represent India and ensures that the ICC is able to protect the commercial interests of the game around the world through the agreed process to deal with these issues.'' The release further stated, "the alterations to the Player Terms in the case of India will see the exclusion period for tournament sponsors limited to just the period of the event and limitations placed on the use of players in promotional campaigns.'' The General Manager (Marketing) of LG Electronics, one of the World Cup sponsors, Ganesh Mahalingam, said, "we've already sought for compensation at the beginning of the ambushing period. We're not concerned with the players. Our contract is with the ICC.'' Samsung was guarded in its reaction. "Our contract is with the players. If the players write to us and ask us to stop advertising, we'll stop,'' said a spokesman of the company. Hero Honda indicated that it was ready to stand by the players and relax the terms and conditions. The Delhi High Court had on Wednesday directed that the Union Government should not release any foreign exchange to the sponsors should India be excluded from the World Cup or the ICC takes any action against the BCCI or the Indian players.
Dalmiya welcomes decision
In Kolkata, the BCCI chief, Jagmohan Dalmiya, tonight welcomed the ICC's decision and said the contract issue would be resolved in course of time. ``The best thing is that the Indian team is going to the World Cup. We are putting up our best team. The money and contract matters will be resolved in course of time,'' Mr. Dalmiya said in Kolkata. Asked about his proposed meeting with senior Indian cricketers, he said ``I will be meeting some of them in Kolkata on Sunday to discuss the team management.''
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