Uncertainty over Nike deal with BCCI

Aug. 19: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co. may soon be making their way to the ground without the Nike’s trademark Swoosh logo on their non-leading arms. The official kit supplier of the Indian team for the last five years, Nike’s already-frayed relationship with the BCCI is on the brink of collapse with the sports goods giant defaulting on its latest payments.

The BCCI had issued a notice to the company in its last finance committee meeting on July 31, reminding Nike that it was yet to pay Rs 2.74 crores. However, after not receiving a reply or the amount due, the BCCI is contemplating action.

“We are going to take a final decision on the matter at the finance committee meeting scheduled on Friday. We usually don’t have meetings so often, but we have not even got an acknowledgement of our reminder from their side,” a board insider told this newspaper on Thursday.

Nike Inc. had signed a record-breaking Rs 197-crore deal with the board’s the-then vice president and marketing committee chief Lalit Modi in 2005, according to which the Indian team would have to display the company’s logo on all international cricket-related clothing from January 1, 2006 till December 31 2010, except on the bat.

However, the two parties have fought ever since, Nike having dragged the board to court in 2007 for a compensation claim of up to $1.2 million. Even though the BCCI hushed up the matter and settled it out of court for an undisclosed sum of money, it has an taken exception to Nike’s claim that Indian players, Sachin Tendulkar in particular, prominently displayed logos of its rivals Reebok and Adidas on their gear and casual wear.

Nike alleged that it incurred huge losses. In a recent letter to the BCCI, Nike has also alleged that some players did not turn up for a TV commercial and photo shoot twice in Hyderabad, resulting in a loss of $200,000.

Nike is unhappy with the constant bickering, and is understood to have demanded a decrease in the royalties it pays to the BCCI.

The deal expires at the end of the year, but with the board already scrutinising every Modi transaction, the end could come sooner then expected.

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