… minor issues still to be ironed out
HAVING won the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) regional Twenty20 tournament last Saturday, the Ramnaresh Sarwan-led Guyana team have earned for themselves a place in the Airtel-sponsored Indian Premier League (IPL) Champions League tournament which will be played in South Africa next month.
But Guyana’s participation in such a prestigious tournament was hanging in the balance, as controversy surrounded the signing of the contract with regards to the player’s remuneration in the said Champions League tournament , with some minor issues still to be ironed out between the players and the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).
In an invited comment with Chronicle Sport, secretary of the GCB Anand Sanasie has refuted an article written in another section of the media which stated that the GCB is demanding 50% of the players’ earnings from the Champions League.
“First of all let me say, contrary to reports, that not one cent from the players’ money they won during the just concluded WICB tournament is going to the GCB. All is going to the players, we at the GCB did not request any money from the players.”
According to the contract which is being circulated to all the teams who will be battling for supremacy in the Champions League, 50% of their earnings in the tournament must be paid to the final 11 players  and the other 50% to the members of the squad or their representatives.  
When told about this, Sanasie who could not confirm or deny same, said that what he wishes to clear up with those who are not au fait with the proceedings is the fact that the contract is not a WICB, GCB or even West Indies Players Association (WIPA) contract, but one between the players and the organisers of the Champions League.
“A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), something that was similar to what Trinidad and Tobago had to sign last year before their participation in the Champions League was circulated to the players.
But for some reason unknown, the skipper of the team Ramnaresh Sarwan is asking the GCB to negotiate with the president of WIPA Dinanath Ramnarine, of which the GCB has no Memorandum of Understanding with.”
He added: “The GCB tried to make contact with the team but could not do so because of the stand taken by Sarwan and to an extent, some members of the team, and while we have not received an official extension from the organising committee of the Champions League, we are working to attain such through the WICB.”
However a source close to the situation has refuted the claims made by Sanasie, stating that he had in fact met with the players at the Crown Plaza Hotel where they stayed during the semifinals and finals as well as yesterday and had given them several agreements to sign with unreasonable deadlines.
It is understood that all the players advised Sanasie that the GCB should speak to WIPA, the players’ representative body to deal with matters of this nature, as they (Guyanese Team) would like to focus on winning the tournament to qualify for the Champions League.
Sanasie indicated to the players that he did not have a mandate to speak to WIPA and would not be doing so.
The source further revealed that all the Guyanese players have stood strong despite many threats and put their request in writing and sent a signed letter to president of the GCB Chetram Singh, advising that they must discuss all matters with WIPA.
They further expressed their disappointment in the manner in which the GCB has dealt with the situation and the tremendous unnecessary pressure they have in fact put the players before, during and after the team’s final against Barbados.
It is understood that the GCB has reluctantly acceded to the request of the players and Mr Singh and Mr Ramnarine spoke earlier yesterday, agreeing to settle all arrangements for the Guyanese team’s participation.
Meanwhile, contact was made with vice- president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) Dudnath Ramkessoon, who told Chronicle Sport that his board and WIPA worked out a deal for their players prior to their participation in the inaugural tournament last year.
“While the Airtel agreement did indicate 50% for the players and 50% for the board in terms of the appearance fee and the prize money, we decided to split the winnings. The players got 75/25 in accordance to an agreement we had with WIPA.
This was done after a previous agreement was made under the Deryck Murray-led administration that did not go well with the players, who entered into a new negotiation under the newly elected president Azim Bassarath, with WIPA as the facilitator,” stated Ramkessoon.
He added that the TTCB was so impressed with the way WIPA handled the situation on behalf of the players, that they called and made early arrangements to meet with regard to have the same discussion early with regard to this year’s tournament.
“Certainly, due to the wonderful arrangement we had with WIPA with regards to last year’s tournament which had no difficulties, the TTCB began making arrangements to sit and meet with the players’ representative with regard to this year’s tournament.
We did not wish to have our players go to the tournament and this issue was not ratified compared to last year, so we had them sign their player’s participation agreement before they even faced Guyana in their semi-final encounter last week Friday.
Both the TTCB and WIPA were happy with this initiative taken by the TTCB, as it not only enabled us to meet the August 1 deadline as set out by the tournament organisers, but also gave our guys the opportunity to go out there and perform knowing that certain things were already taken care of before they even left to play their first game.”
What seems to be the problem, albeit a minor one, is the mis-interpretation of the contract in the players’ participation agreement which this reporter had the privilege of perusing.
While it states that 50% goes to the players who comprise the final 11 on the field, the other 50% is to be paid to the remaining members of the squad, namely the manager, coach and the remaining members of the team who did not make the final 11.
Amidst all the misunderstandings mentioned above, the players went ahead and signed their respective contracts sometime yesterday, with a view to the GCB meeting with WIPA to iron out the stumbling blocks that were identified.