Lara inks 4-year deal with C&W; no conflict

When the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) inked a new long-term sponsorship deal with Digicel, questions were immediately raised about captain Brian Lara’s personal deal with Digicel’s main rival Cable and Wireless.But, Lara sees nothing wrong with him endorsing a competitor’s product and made it clear the WICB gave their blessing to his continued involvement with Cable and Wireless, according to a report in the Barbados Nation. Lara re-upped his C&W deal for another four years, meaning he will continue to be the face and voice for the company’s marketing campaigns leading up the World Cup in 2007, throughout the same term of the Digicel deal.

“In world sport, nearly everything that happens, there is always a conflict of interest,” the Barbados Nation quoted the left-hander as saying. “There are always people who are marching towards sponsoring teams and individuals —  and products do compete. There are going to be team sponsors and there are going to be areas where people cannot step into. We do understand that, but I think that C and W’s involvement over the last 19 years and especially with myself —  and already getting the blessings of the WICB —  I see no reason why everyone can’t work harmoniously and make sure that this thing works out for West Indies cricket,” Lara stated.

“The governing bodies have to benefit in a major way, but individual players and sponsors are getting involved and it’s becoming a very competitive market,” the West Indies captain said. Lara has also added a conspicuous C&W logo to the MRF bat he is using on the current tour of England. Whether he is allowed to use the C&W logo on a bat in a match sponsored by Digicel is anyone’s guess. Cable and Wireless plan to announce individual sponsorship deals with seven other West Indies players, including vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan.