Business managers of cricketers are planning to get united and also rope in the major sponsors of the national team to consolidate their stance.
NEW DELHI: Miffed at the BCCI's decision to curtail players' endorsements, the business managers of cricketers are planning to get united and also rope in the major sponsors of the national team to consolidate their stance.
"We have already contacted sponsors like TCL, Puma and Sahara which have agreed to unite and also talking to others over the issue," Shailendra Singh of Percept D'Mark said. The company handles accounts for Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh.
"Our interest is to set up a united front to consolidate and represent the sponsors and the players' interest because some where down the line the focus is being lost," he said.
In its meeting, BCCI yesterday announced that players would not be allowed to endorse more than three products and would need prior permission from it before signing contracts.
Singh said the BCCI should have atleast taken the sponsors in confidence before making such a move and informed that the media managers of the players would meet later this week to put up a collective issue with the Board.
"The focus needs to be on the amount of money which comes into cricket and who is going to be answerable for that. Some 25-30 clients have put serious money into the sport, what about the accountability for that," Singh said.
The business agents are terming it as a populist move which may face legal hurdles and may not be implementable.
"The BCCI has not thought through the legal implications as many players have multiple year contracts," Anirban Blah Vice-President Marketing Globosport, which manages Zaheer Khan, said.
"I think it is not tenable as it would tantamount to depriving somebody from earning through his primary source of income. The BCCI would need to come out with clear-cut details as to who would compensate the player," he added.
However, Latika Khaneja of Collage Sports Management which handles Virender Sehwag, said: "We can not do much about it until and unless the players themselves decide and come up to oppose the restrictions put on them."
"I am sure, no player would a take such a step at the cost of his cricketing carrier," she said.
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