$20 million Stanford Twenty20 in doubt
Tuesday, 07 Oct 2008 22:45
Digicel feel they should have a bigger publicity and marketing presence in Sir Allen Stanford's $20 million winner-takes-all contest.
The big money Twenty 20 match between England and Sir Allen Stanford's West Indies XI is in serious doubt after a High Court ruling ordered the West Indies Cricket Board to withdraw their sanctioning of the match.
The court stated that that no centrally contracted West Indian player can take part after their sponsors Digicel took them to court after being overlooked as sponsors for the $20 million winner-takes-all contest.
The WICB had argued that because the 'Stanford Superstars' were not an official West Indies team Digicel rights were not affected.
Digicel, who are owned by Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien, argued that if the match was officially recognised by the WICB, as the official sponsor the WCIB it would have branding and other commercial rights associated with the deal.
The Stanford Superstars are being managed by Sir Viv Richards and were expected to include many current West Indies players in the squad, including captain Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
As it stands their presence is not possible, and the game looks to be in real jeopardy, although representatives from Digicel and Sir Allen Stanford will attempt to rescue the situation in the coming days.