DIGICEL’S US$20 million sponsorship deal with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will come to an end in September but the telecommunications company and WICB are still not close to committing to a new contract.
Digicel have been in negotiations with the regional governing body since October 2010 but despite the efforts by their Director of Marketing Operations, Kieran Foley, and their attorney, no deal has been forthcoming.
From October 2010-September 2011, Digicel had exclusivity rights to negotiate and eventually offered a new deal to WICB which was rejected. Since then, the WICB had the option to explore the market for more lucrative deals from any other company.
“They’ve been discussing with other entities which is their right,” Foley revealed yesterday.
The Digicel Director stated emphatically, however, that his company is still willing to continue their sponsorship of regional cricket despite the dismal performances of the team since they came on board in 2004.
“We’ve been talking to them and we want to continue (our sponsorship). After that period (WICB negotiating with other parties) we have the opportunity to match any third party offer,” he explained.
Foley and Digicel’s lawyer last met with WICB CEO, Dr Ernest Hilaire and three other members of the WICB team in March in St Lucia where discussions continued. Since then, emails have been sent back and forth but still they have not come any closer to an agreement.
“We have to wait for the WICB to go through the market and see what offer they can get. When contracts are ending that is normal and everything is following a normal process…We’ve been speaking to the WICB for nearly two years so we definitely have an interest (of renewing),” Foley continued.
Meanwhile, Foley expressed a bit of concern with the fractious nature of the relationship between the WICB and West Indies Players Association (WIPA) who have repeatedly been at loggerheads over numerous situations and putting the spotlight off the field-of-play. “Obviously it will help us when there is a harmonious relationship but I wouldn’t want to comment too much because that doesn’t concern us. We extended the possibility of us to act as mediator to help resolve situations…We hope to see the day where things are a lot more harmonious,” he added.
Foley was much less reserved, however, when commenting on the reinstatement of Jamaican batsman Chris Gayle in the team after being ostracised from West Indies cricket for over a year.
The WICB and WIPA had been bickering over Gayle’s omission but after several high profile meetings, the 32-year-old was recalled.
“Obviously we are happy because we sponsor Chris individually. We’re delighted to see him back because when we initially sponsored him it was because of his talismanic personality and importance to the team,” Foley declared.
Looking towards the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in September later this year, an excited Foley expressed optimism about what the regional players could achieve.
“Look at how many of our Caribbean players do well in the IPL (Indian Premier League). We have the best rated T20 players and West Indians are strong power hitters so I expect them to do quite well,” he concluded. (Trinidad Newsday)
