Sourav's ad contract has Board buzzing http://sport.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1974082.cms NEW DELHI, April 28: An alleged contract between Sourav Ganguly and an international sports gear manufacturer linking payment to the former cricket captain to the time he spent on the crease has spurred the BCCI to scan the endorsement contracts of all members of the squad.
Ganguly's alleged contract, said sources, figured in the April 6 meeting of BCCI office-bearers in Mumbai. An office-bearer raised the issue. Board boss Sharad Pawar also made a reference to such a contract, though he didn't name the player, in his interview on Friday.
Ganguly, though in good form, scored 66 off 122 balls against Bangladesh, and that set tongues wagging.
In fact, there was a buzz about this alleged contract more than a month ago when sources close to Sourav had clarified that there was no such clause in his contract. Instead, there was a clause of higher payment on better performance and this didn't go against team goals.
The cricket board has started scanning the contracts of players after getting information that Sourav Ganguly allegedly has a contract with a company that links payment to the time spent by the former captain at the crease.
Though BCCI officials have decided to look at all the endorsement contracts of members of the team, it is acknowledged that nothing might come of the exercise. "We are not going to get to see any such contract, for what would be submitted to the board would be cleaned of clauses such as this," a BCCI official told TOI .
The controversy involving Ganguly is part of a wider debate raging in the cricket circles over endorsements impacting the performance of the players.
With the perception that commercial tie-ups were distracting the players, the board seems to have come around to capping the number of endorsements per player at six.
The dominant view is that while three could be allowed for cricketing gear %u2014 shoe, bat, and shirt %u2014 the cricketer could also endorse three more products
