Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

(PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf Thursday issued a notice to fast bowler
Shoaib Akhtar, demanding that he withdraw various charges levelled him,
apologise unconditionally and pay Rs.100 million ($1.6 million) in
damages. In his legal notice, Ashraf accused Akhtar of claiming in a
media interview that Ashraf had pressurised him and other unnamed
Pakistani players to give the PCB chief a part of the payments they
would get from the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20
tournament starting April 18.

The PCB banned Shoaib Akhtar Tuesday from all cricket for five years for breach of discipline.

With this legal notice, Akhtar’s appearance in the IPL looks highly
unlikely, unless he tenders an unconditional apology, as Ashraf has
sought. Akhtar was bought by Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan’s IPL Kolkata team for $425,000 at the players’ auction.

Ashraf has taken exception to Akhtar’s interview to Pakistan’s Express News Channel telecast Wednesday.

Akhtar was banned by a PCB disciplinary committee, but gave Akhtar an opportunity to appeal against the ruling.

“He can’t play for Pakistan or anywhere in Pakistan, but he can play
in the Indian Premier League, to which we he have no jurisdiction,”
Ashraf told reporters Tuesday.

Akhtar had appeared before a disciplinary committee in February
after being charged with publicly criticising the board over his
retainership. He was already on two years’ probation for hitting
teammate Mohammad Asif with a bat before the start of the World T20 Championship in South Africa in September last year.

Two weeks before its launch, the Indian Premier League has raised a
potential controversy by placing unprecedented demands on media
organisations planning to cover the tournament, including a regulation
that prevents photographs appearing on news websites. IPL officials say
there is room for negotiation, while one respected international news
agency, Agence France-Press (AFP), says the present terms don’t allow
it to cover the tournament.

The accreditation forms were posted online
overnight with a deadline of April 8, leaving companies five days to
sign on to cover the tournament under these terms or be refused entry.

The conditions include the IPL’s right to use
all pictures taken at its grounds for free and without restrictions;
the commitment by news organisations to upload on the IPL site, within
24 hours, all images taken at the ground; and the restriction of web
portals’ access to images without prior permission from the IPL.

“The terms and conditions are too strict and
raise questions about press freedom,” Barry Parker, AFP’s South Asia
bureau chief, told Cricinfo. “The present terms and conditions don’t
allow us to cover the event.”

Several hours after the accreditation forms
were posted online, the IPL indicated it was open to negotiations. “We
don’t feel the rules are stringent in any way, as we are only
protecting our rights,” said IS Bindra, a member of the IPL’s governing
council. “We are treating the issue of photographs just as we would in
the case of TV production. However, we are ready to discuss the issue
with all parties involved to reach an amicable solution,” he said. “The
production is ours. We are not being rigid here and saying that only
what we say is right. Of course, we will ensure that things don’t lead
to a situation where media outlets decide to boycott the event.”

Asked why websites would be denied access to
the pictures, Bindra said: “We have not allowed online usage only
because we have sold the portal rights of the event to a respected
company based in North America for US$50 million. We can’t disclose the
company’s name at the moment as they are in the process of getting
listed.”

Andrew Moger, a spokesman for the News Media
Coalition, which includes some of the world’s major news and photograph
agencies, said the decision would have an enormous impact on media
groups with websites and news agencies supplying pictures around the
world. “As feared, the media accreditation terms for the Indian Premier
League represent some of the most restrictive and burdensome access
arrangements ever seen by the news media worldwide.”

Moger worked for the news agencies, including
Reuters, AFP and AP, and the photo distributor Getty Images, when they
had similar concerns over image rights in the accreditation guidelines
set by Cricket Australia for the 2007-08 summer. There were fears media
groups would have to pay for access and the body wanted to maintain
rights over photographs taken in the stadiums. However, limits over the
number of reports sent from the ground remained in place.

The demands resulted in News Limited
journalists being locked out for day one of the first Test against Sri
Lanka, while the agency boycott ended a week later when Muttiah
Muralitharan was in danger of breaking Shane Warne’s then world record.

Shoaib Akhtar’s cricketing options are running out fast with the
Indian Cricket League (ICL) ruling out roping in the erratic speedster unless he
is cleared of the five-year ban imposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Akhtar, who had joined the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight
Riders team for Rs 1.8 crore, has already been barred by the Indian Premier
League (IPL), which insisted the pacer would have to get the ban removed if he
wanted to play in the cash-rich Twenty20 extravaganza starting later this month.

In such a scenario, aligning with the ‘rebel’ league would have been
an option for the beleaguered pacer but even that looks difficult now with ICL
authorities making it clear that they would not welcome the pacer unless he
clears the ban.

“Look we want to promote cricket and we don’t want
to spoil our relations with anyone for anyone,” ICL executive board chairman
Kapil Dev said.

“I don’t think it would look right that a player who
is under ban from his board is entertained by us. And I also think that even a
one year ban makes it difficult for a cricketer to make an international
comeback,” he said.

Asked if the ICL would still be willing to pay
huge sums of money to Akhtar for the ICL, Dev said one could not predict what
would be the scenario in the next few months.

Incidentally, Akhtar
had turned down an ICL offer even though compatriots like Inzamam-ul-Haq aligned
with the rebel league.

IPL does not want to set any unwanted precedence by allowing Shoiab Akhtar to play for IPL when he has been banned by his home country. This is in line with IPl’s desire to be part of the International Cricket Community and not act as an isolated body.

Shoiab was recently banned by PCB - the Pakistan Cricket Board for a span of five years as a disciplinary action.

“Shoaib has been banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board, and even though they have cleared him to play for IPL, we felt that international discipline needs to be respected,” IS Bindra, a member of the IPL governing council, told Cricinfo. “If he can’t play for Pakistan, how can we play him? There will be no discipline left in the game, if we play him. It will set an unwanted precedent.

“We [the IPL] want to be part of the international system, not operate outside it. If somebody is banned on disciplinary grounds, that is a serious offense, and we felt it would be very odd if he was to play in IPL.”

But Shoaib could play in the IPL if he wins the appeal against his ban. “If he is able to clear the ban and wins the appeal process, he will be allowed to play”, Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, clarified to a private television channel.

Kolkata Knight riders have already been informed about the decision and they are bound by IPL rules where every player would require a BOC or clearance from the governing body of IPL for participating in the Tournament.

There is a possibility that the South African players may arrive as late as April 25th, as they will be involved in the Standard Bank Pro20 matches in South Africa. The franchises were informed of the development by the IPL governing council in a meeting held in Mumbai, where a host of administrative issues surrounding the league were discussed.

Ten South African players have been signed on by the eight IPL franchises, and a few of them, depending on how their domestic teams fare in the Pro20, might join their IPL teams after the tournament ends on 25th.

However, a franchise representative from IPL said that they were confident the players would be available for the full duration. “The decision is not final as yet. We are in the process of talking to the players, their teams and the board and we will work something out.”

In among other things that were discussed in the meeting, each franchise has been allotted a liason officer from a South African agency, which was involved with the ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa, who will travel with the teams and oversee the security preparations.

The meeting saw a host of experts from the consulting firm IMG counselling the franchises on the issues ranging from security, accredition, ticketing, and movement of officials across grounds, and entertainment guidelines.

Lets hope they arrive on time as more International Players will add more color to the Tournament