BCCI appoints committee to mediate on telecast row

Concerned by the fallout of the long-drawn telecast dispute, the Indian board today appointed a four-member committee to resolve the vexed issue of sharing the live feed of cricket matches between Nimbus, the rights owner, and public broadcaster Prasar Bharti.

The decision to form the committee, which would interact with the government and Nimbus, was taken at the BCCI's working committee meeting in Delhi. Shashank Manohar, the board's vice-president, will head the panel while Lalit Modi, N Srinivasan and IS Bindra will be the other members. "The issue was deliberated upon and a four-member panel has been constituted. It will look at the pros and cons of the ordinance and talk to the government and hopefully the issue will be resolved," BCCI vice-president and media committee convenor Rajiv Shukla told reporters.

The dispute between Nimbus, which bought the telecast rights for a whopping US$ 612 million, and Prasar Bharti had prevented thousands of fans from watching the first India-West Indies one-dayer live. As both the parties moved the courts, the government came out with an ordinance making it mandatory for the right owners to share the live feed with Prasar Bharti.

"The board thinks that people should not be deprived and the rights holders should not be affected. The BCCI understands its responsibility towards both the sides and it is better that a middle path is found," Shukla said.

The working committee also discussed the proposed performance-linked contract for the players and decided to implement the scheme before the World Cup. "Before the World Cup it will be ready. We will call some senior players for a meeting and it will be resolved," the board's secretary Niranjan Shah said. "There were so many tournaments and the schedule is so busy. We are looking at some modalities. We will put it before the players soon," he said, adding the delay would not affect the cricketers as the contracts would be applicable with retrospective effect - from October, 2006.

The board also decided to appoint Sanjay Jagdale, a national selector, and joint secretary MP Pandove as managers of the Indian team for the World Cup in the West Indies. "Jagdale and Pandove will be the two managers for the team during the World Cup. Since Pandove is a government servant, he had to seek some permissions and because of this he will join the side after 15 days," Shah said.