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WIPA muddling facts and delaying arbitration - WICB

The West Indies Cricket Board has questioned the West Indies Players Association's defence of its rejection of the ICC/FICA offer to end the disputes between the two Caribbean bodies

Cricinfo staff
25-Aug-2010
The WICB-WIPA stand-off: No end in sight  •  The Nation

The WICB-WIPA stand-off: No end in sight  •  The Nation

The West Indies Cricket Board has questioned the West Indies Players Association's defence of its rejection of the ICC/FICA offer to end the disputes between the two Caribbean bodies, claiming that the association "is engaged in misinformation and muddling of the facts".
WIPA had earlier reposed its faith in the Caricom appointed arbitration panel, as ratified by the New York Agreement signed by the two bodies, and refused to enter "non-binding negotiations/mediation with the ICC and FICA". WICB hit out at the claim that the negotiations were non-binding and insisted they were not meant to override the legal arbitration.
"For an arbitration to be deemed binding, the parties must agree that they would be bound by the judgment. Similarly, had WIPA not rejected the joint ICC/FICA proposal and along with the WICB, agreed to be bound by the decisions therein, it would have been binding on both parties. For WIPA to skew the facts to suggest that the joint ICC/FICA intervention could not have led to a binding agreement is disingenuous," the WICB statement read.
"The joint ICC/FICA proposal would have offered a framework - based on how other ICC full members had resolved similar issues to the satisfaction of all parties - for settling the specific issue of image rights and intellectual property. It was made very clear that if the framework was not accepted then the process of arbitration would continue."
The WICB reiterated its commitment to the arbitration process, which it claimed the WIPA was delaying, and expressed surprise at the association's statement that the arbitration was "due to be heard shortly before a panel of distinguished Caribbean jurists".
"WICB is taken aback by this statement as we are not aware that any date has been set for the arbitration hearing. The truth is WIPA's delaying tactics stymied any chance of an agreement - by the December 2009 date as outlined in the New York Agreement - on the terms of reference for the arbitration," the WICB statement read.
The WICB also said it had honoured all its commitments towards the New York Agreement, including payment of the legal fees of $450,000, distribution of injury payments to, and signing of contracts with players for the October 2009 to September 2010 period.