KARACHI, 3 February 2006 — Members of the Pakistan cricket team have asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to allow them to sign individual endorsement contracts with a leading cellular company although the board has a long standing contract with another mobile company.
The Pakistan board is currently in contract with Instaphone but sources said some Pakistani players had asked for permission to sign individual endorsements with another company, which was offering them lucrative individual contracts.
The Chairman of the PCB, Shaharyar Khan when asked about the above issue said that the board’s contract with Instaphone would end in around three months time.
“We didn’t sign this contract this was signed by the previous board but we have to honor it and wait for another three months. When the contract expires then we will see what to do but we are not against our players earning some extra money. But at the moment the offers they are getting are basically ambush marketing by rival cellular companies who know we are contracted to someone else,” he said.
The players don’t receive any percentage of the sponsorship money the company gives to the board and which remains undisclosed. But the players have been given free sets and unlimited use of local and national calls.
Shaharyar said obviously mobile companies were interested in signing on players but no player could be allowed to sign a contract, which is in direct competition with the board’s sponsors.
“When this contract expires we will ask for bids from other companies in a transparent manner and see the increased benefits we can give to the players from the earnings of the new contract,” he added.
Inzamam’s Back Problem
The Pakistan Cricket Board is worried about the recurring back problem of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and it believes he needs to start properly planning his future career.
A senior official said the board was concerned with the back problem constantly bothering Inzamam.
“He is a key player for us and his fitness is of paramount interest until the 2007 World Cup. Perhaps it is time that he plan his schedule carefully in future if the problem persists,” the official stated.
Inzamam, 35, missed the third and final Test against India due to the back problem that occurs because of a slipped disc in his lower back and said it was the toughest decision he had to make in his cricket career to not play given the importance of the match with the first two Tests drawn. The official said the possibility of sending Inzamam abroad to consult foreign orthopedic specialists was something the board had thought obout. “It is an option we are thinking about and which we can always use in case the back problem gets worse,” he said.
Inzamam himself has admitted that the problem was disturbing for him as it keeps on afflicting him from time to time but said he had no plans to retire because of it.
