The International Cricket Council has reportedly 'interrupted' the Indian cricketers' preparations to warn them of severe action arising out of continued advertisements by their personal sponsors during the World Cup.
Lawyers of the ICC Development International, the commercial arm of the ICC, have delivered letters to the Indian team management in South Africa to bring to their notice the conflicting advertisement campaigns of electronics major Samsung India Electronics Limited in India.
Samsung is a rival of LG Electronics, an official sponsor of the World Cup.
"It is extremely regrettable that the IDI has been compelled to interrupt the Indian players and management during the tournament to address this problem," ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said in a statement on Friday.
The ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India fought a bitter battle over conflicting sponsorship and players' image rights in the lead up to the World Cup.
They arrived at a temporary truce, which enabled the Indian team to participate in the World Cup while the issues were to be sorted out in the Court of Arbitration for Sport after the tournament.
The players were also asked to instruct their personal sponsors not to air advertisements that were in conflict with the interests of the official sponsors during the duration of the World Cup.
Speed said that the IDI is in possession of evidence that Samsung ignored the agreement that the players gave to the ICC.
"This [Samsung's advertisements] is a premeditated campaign designed to infringe and devalue the rights secured by IDI's commercial partners. It cannot and will not be tolerated," Speed was quoted as saying.
If no resolution is reached immediately, the matter is likely to be referred to the technical committee, Speed said.
Meanwhile, Jyoti Bajpai, the Indian team manager, issued a statement saying the players have given a written understanding that they would once again ask their sponsors not to air advertisements that are in conflict with the sponsors during the World Cup.
"The players spoke to their sponsors before the start of the World Cup and they will again speak to them," Bajpai said.
"The players were unaware of Samsung advertisements but will ask the company not to air conflicting advertisements from now on," he added.
