He said the BCCI would need to come out with clear-cut details as to who would compensate the player. “Legally, too, I think it is not tenable as it would tantamount to depriving somebody from earning through his primary source of income,” he said. When the BCCI pays a player Rs 2 crore for playing, but the same player gets many crores more than that through endorsements, it then becomes his primary source of income, he argued.

Echoing similar sentiment, Latika Khaneja of Collage Sports Management which handles Virender Sehwag, told PTI: “There have always been differences between the Board and cricketers and the Board has never wanted them to endorse any products.” BCCI wants to earn to lot of money through players’ performance, but whenever these cricketers have tried to earn, the Board has always disliked it, she added. Vinita Bangard, VP of Percept D’Mark, which manages Ganguly, puts it: “We are waiting to read the fineprint, but nothing can happen to existing contracts. It will be very difficult to get out of them now.”

The other celebrity managers The Sunday Express spoke to, who didn’t want to be named, also said they will have to evaluate cricket endorsements. “Going forward, we have to perhaps run everything past the BCCI. We have to be careful how we sign deals.”

The BCCI has also ruled against more than three brands endorsing the whole team — deals like Team Nike or Team Samsung which have become so integral to the cricket team. LG, which stopped endorsing individuals, but poured money into the game is doing a rethink.

... contd.