NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Zee TV bids 413m pounds for 2003, 2007 World Cup rights

Paran Balakrishnan in London

Zee TV is believed to have bid 413 million pounds for rights to broadcast the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, topping a 390 million pounds bid by rival World Sports.

Members of the International Cricket Council's executive board are to decide on who should win the rights at their weekend annual meeting in Paris.

Zee joined forces with TWI three days back, while the WSG has made its offer in connection with Nimbus Communications, another Indian company, The Sunday Telegraph said.

The sums are massive for cricket, but the rights are due to include four ICC knockouts and a couple of other minor contests in addition to the 2003 and 2007 World Cups.

For all previous World Cups, the host country has been incharge of awarding the broadcasting rights and the money at stake was less than one-tenth of what is now being negotiated for the World Cup package.

In May, it was rumoured that Zee would be part of a breakaway Asian bloc if they failed to get broadcasting rights, but the company denied it.

Zee has, however, said it has ideas for 'new and creative forms' of the game.

One idea is to push Kathmandu as another offshore venue for one-day international tournaments like Sharjah, Toronto and Singapore. Zee has already ploughed money into the Nepalese government's costs of building the new cricket-cum-football stadium in Kathmandu, according to the Telegraph.

The distribution of financial spoils from the ever-growing central cake has become a growing source of controversy with the Asian bloc led by India demanding a bigger slice.

The ICC spent 1.2 million pounds on development in the 1999-2000 financial year, but the breakdown of which countries got what has not been made public.

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard's former chief Sir Paul Condon is a frontrunner to become the ICC's anti-corruption czar.

The Telegraph said that Sir Paul, who retired recently after heading London's Metropolitan Police for seven years will be backed by Britain and other cricketing countries like Australia, but he could face opposition from Pakistan and India.

The ICC is to announce its first corruption investigator at Lord's tomorrow, after one of the most significant annual meetings in the association's history.

Sir Paul's candidacy could be derailed by infighting, with Pakistan reported to be strongly opposing the appointment of Condon or anyone else from Britain.

Britain and Pakistan are at odds following a veiled threat from England to cancel their winter tour of Pakistan unless further action is taken against players named by Justice Qayyum.

Lord MacLaurin, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, is arguing that these players should be banned for at least two years, as prescribed by the new ICC guidelines.

MacLaurin, a long-time advocate of tough measures, said he hoped the meeting in Paris will be "strong and decisive" with the ICC "moving ahead with one voice".

At another level, Lord Griffiths, the chairman of the ICC's code of conduct commission, is to appoint two representatives from neutral countries to study the Qayyum report and recommend whether further action should be taken. .

But a split at the meeting was emerging with the Asians in one camp and England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in the other, The Sunday Times said.

Last weekend, the Daily Telegraph said that MacLaurin had suggested that England's tour of Pakistan could be scrapped unless the Pakistan players face harsher punishment.

The ICC must also deal this weekend with the thorny question of what to do about Thailanga Sumathipala, a bookmaker recently elected president of the Sri Lankan board despite an ICC motion that anyone involved with bookmaking cannot hold high office.

An interim injunction has been issued by a Colombo court restraining Sumathipala from taking up his position on the board.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report