SA players join row over ICC contracts

South Africa's players look set to join a row over sponsorship contracts threatening next month's ICC Champions Trophy, a player's representative said on Thursday.

Australia's leading players have already refused to sign contracts to play in the event after the International Cricket Council (ICC), seeking to protect its tournament sponsors, banned players from endorsing the products of rival companies.

Tony Irish, chief executive of the South African Cricketers' Association told Reuters that several players already had such individual agreements in place and that the ICC did not have the right to control players' image rights.

"The rights to the tournaments have been sold to event sponsors, but the players' rights haven't been procured from the players," he said.

"Certain players also have existing sponsorship contracts that may be in conflict with the ICC contracts."

The issue could spill over into the World Cup, scheduled to start in South Africa in February.

Many players, including the South Africans, are represented by the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), which has advised members not to sign the ICC deals.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed took a firm stance on Wednesday, arguing that event sponsors at the Olympics and soccer's World Cup were similarly protected from "ambush marketing". He also said the players had been forewarned, with the ICC sponsorship deal containing the restrictions on players dating back to 2000.

Irish, however, said: "It's not an ambush.

"One has to be very careful about threatening the event, but the fact is that these contracts existed before the players were required to sign the ICC contracts."

Many top Indian players -- led by Sachin Tendulkar and captain Saurav Ganguly -- are also expected to balk over signing the contracts because of lucrative existing advertising deals. If they did sign, they could be in breach of those agreements.

Cricket's most famous case of ambush marketing came in the 1996 World Cup in the sub-continent, when Pepsi fought back against Coca Cola -- an official sponsor -- by flying huge air-balloons with their logo on the edge of match venues.

They also handed out Pepsi signs for supporters to wave in front of the television cameras, while ordering their contracted players not to approach the Coke drinks carts during breaks in play. They also ran a television advertising campaign under the slogan "There's nothing official about it".

Irish said the dispute had not been a major stumbling block in the past because "players are now represented much more effectively".

Mail Cricket Editor