MELBOURNE: The ball-tampering scandal that is unravelling following the Australian team’s actions durig the third Test match in South Africa could have major financial implications for Cricket Australia as its sponsors and partners demanded answers, amid fears of the fallout on their brands.
“This is deeply disappointing and certainly not what anyone expects from our national cricket team,” airline Qantas, whose logo is on the team shirts in South Africa, told AFP.
“We are in discussions with Cricket Australia as this issue unfolds.” Financial giant Commonwealth Bank, which sponsors the national women’s team, said it wanted a full explanation. “We are disappointed about the events that have emerged from the third Test in South Africa and have asked for a full explanation from Cricket Australia following the conclusion of its investigation into this affair,” it told AFP.
The team’s biggest sponsor, fund manager Magellan, told the Australian Financial Review: “We’re deeply concerned about it, it involves cheating, in no way would we condone it in what we do.”
Magellan’s Hamish Douglass added that it was appropriate for CA to respond “quickly”.
In a related development, sportswear company Skins has run a full-page ad, in the form of an open letter to Cricket Australia, in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The letter is penned by Jaimie Fuller, a sports governance campaigner and executive chairman of Skins, and calls on the board of Cricket Australia to be more transparent about the who, what and how of the ball-tampering incident “within a few days”.
Fuller said CA’s reputation was on the line in how it responds, pointing out that cricket was more than just a game in Australia, with the captaincy of the national team considered second only to the prime minister in bragging rights.
“Cricket is such a part of our national psyche that it helps define us,” he said. “It helps give us a sense of what is fair, and what is not; what is right and what is wrong. “Even though you are presiding over the sport, it doesn’t belong to you,” he added of CA. “You are the custodians of it. And now you must get your job right.”
The crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time for CA, which is renegotiating its media rights deal, with the existing A$600 million five-year televiision rights agreement expiring at the end of the year.
CA fears that broadcasters could use the controversy as a bargaining chip.
Also Read
Pressure mounts on RR, Sunrisers Hyderabad to ensure Smith, Warner do not play IPL
