Contrary to claims made by sports broadcaster Nimbus that it had walked
out of the upcoming Afro Asia Cup cricket series, Asian Cricket
Council today said it scrapped the deal with the channel for "not fulfilling
contractual obligations".
Consequently, ACC has awarded the telecast rights for this year Afro-Asia cup
to be held in India next month to ESPN Star Sports (ESS).
"They (Nimbus) did not fulfil their contractual obligations...
But it is always painful to terminate contracts," ACC CEO Syed Ashraful
Huq said.
Asked to explain the details of its contract with Nimbus, he
declined to comment citing confidentiality clause. He also did not reveal the
financial details of ACC's new deal with ESS.
Yesterday, Nimbus had said that it will not be part of the
event which starts from from June 6 to 10 in Bangalore and Chennai.
"We will not be telecasting the event. Neither will we be producing nor
bringing sponsorship for the matches," Nimbus chief Harish Thawani
said.
The tournament had lost sheen due to pullout of big stars and
industry insiders say this could be one of the reasons for Nimbus' loss of interest
in the event.
Huq, however, flatly denied it and said ACC was aiming for
much higher viewership through its new partner ESS.
"I don't think this is the case. You cannot force players
to play. In the last edition, Rahul (Dravid) and Sachin Tendulkar did
not play but the tournament was still a success," he said.
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