M S Dhoni

Just after getting all warmed up after the warm up matches it seems as if the captain of the Indian Cricket team Mahendra Singh Dhoni is now in hot water.

M S Dhoni endorses in so many brands that this situation was bound to happen one way or another, apparently the International Cricket Council (ICC) has told Dhoni not to promote or endorse any brand that is not affiliated to the World Cup of 2011 for the time being or for the period before and during the World Cup.

Dhoni has been promoting brands like Aircel and Sony which are rivals for the existing brands for the World Cup. Considering India will play host to majority of the World Cup matches and the Indian captain will therefore be an ambassador he has no choice to abide by these instructions.

By endorsing these brands (Aircel and Sony) Dhoni will be in breach of the ambush marketing clause for the World Cup 2011. This clause says that no player can endorse/promote products, services or companies that are not involved or related to the World Cup before or during its happening.

Sachin Tendulkar will be facing similar problems as he seems to be in the same boat, he approached the Indian cricket board president Shashank Manohar regarding this issue.

Other players who met with Shashank Manohar include Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra to discuss the same problem as well as clarifications relating to a similar clause for the IPL.

In a memo sent to all the International players by ICC’s legal head David Becker it said ‘Any squad member that knowingly or unknowingly breaches the squad terms may face sanctions ranging from financial penalties through to being excluded from continued participation in the event,’.

This may seem unjustified to many but Becker gave a valid enough explanation for this clause, he said ‘Our primary responsibility is to protect the rights of our broadcasters, sponsors and partners who have made significant investments towards the tournament. This has to be done at every venue and at every game. Ambush marketing, protection of intellectual property rights, counterfeit merchandise and online piracy are just some of the avenues that have to be monitored.’

The instructions are therefore clear cut and to the point, and everybody must abide by them, Dhoni and the others must realize that this is not the IPL where ads are falling from the sky all over the place.

Tags: Aircel, Ambush Marketing, Brands, Cricket, ICC, India, International Cricket Council, M.S. Dhoni, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sony