BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC:COMMUNICATIONS GIANTS Cable and Wireless (C&W) said yesterday they were in receipt of a letter from the attorney representing Ramnaresh Sarwan and Christopher Gayle indicating that the players would be terminating their contracts with the company.
However, C&W said it would be discussing the issue with Sarwan and Gayle, especially considering the new proposals put forward by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on Wednesday.
The company did not indicate, however, if it had accepted the players' move to abandon the personal contracts signed last year, which have been at the centre of a sponsorship impasse between the WICB and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) since.
TERMINATION
"Cable and Wireless confirms that that we are in receipt of a letter from attorney Sanjeev Datadin communicating the termination of the personal endorsement contracts of his clients Ramnaresh Sarwan and Christopher Gayle," a statement from C&W said yesterday.
"Company officials will be holding discussions today (Thursday) with players Sarwan, Gayle and attorney Datadin regarding this letter and possible next steps in light of the new WICB-backed proposal for further review of the contracts by CARICOM-appointed adjudicator, Justice Adrian Saunders."
C&W had said in a statement on Wednesday night, that it had not been informed of the players' decision to abort their personal endorsement contracts.
"Although we are aware of today's (Wednesday) reports in some of the press that Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle have terminated their personal endorsement contracts with us, we are not in receipt of any communication to that effect from their attorney and are working to separate fact from rumour," the statement said on Wednesday.
PUBLIC HOLIDAY
However, the company's senior vice-president of corporate marketing for the Caribbean, Rachelle Franklin, said in yesterday's release that the company had not received the letter sent by the players' lawyer to an office in Trinidad because of a public holiday in that country.
"We regret that we were unavailable to previously confirm receipt of this letter as it had been sent yesterday at 17:00 hours to an office in Trinidad, where there was a public holiday. Consequently, there was no one there to receive it. We apologise to Mr. Datadin for any undue discomfort this may have caused him or his clients," Franklyn said.
