PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Regional players’ body WIPA, filed a legal action against the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for US$20 million in damages.
Information reaching the CMC Sport Wire indicated that the claim was laid before the Trinidad & Tobago High Court yesterday. The matter concerned the refusal by the WICB to issue an unconditional No Objection Certificate to players not on retainer contracts with the regional governing body.
Phone calls to WIPA executive president Dinanath Ramnarine seeking a comment on the matter were unsuccessful, and no comment on the matter was forthcoming from the WICB.
WIPA said the WICB’s refusal without a guarantee of lost earning “was unreasonable, oppressive, illegal, contrary to public policy, and constitutes an unlawful restraint of trade”.
NOCs are required by players to get exemption from their home board’s international commitments to play in foreign leagues.
WIPA is also seeking to have the court rule upon the WICB’s refusal to engage WIPA on matters involving its relationship with the Indian Premier League.
The players’ association said the WICB’s actions in its handling of affairs involving the IPL were “a breach of the fiduciary duty owed to the players”.