Don't be surprised if the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and M.S. Dhoni are seen promoting their respective Indian Premier League (IPL) teams during the ICC World Cup.
Under normal circumstances, the players are bound by ICC's endorsement guidelines, seven days before and after the World Cup, that put certain restrictions on the players to endorse products that are in direct conflict with the tournament sponsors.
The issue had created a big ruckus during the 2007 World Cup as the clauses were applicable for a month before and after the event. However, for this edition, the ICC has not only reduced the number of days but has also given a special exemption for the IPL teams since the tournament starts just six days after the World Cup.
And the one clause that could have affected the IPL teams directly was that the players could not allow their image to be used for any third party advertising wearing any clothing confusingly similar to the team kit, uniform or practice kit.
"This would have meant that the images of the Indian stars in the Mumbai Indian squad and Australians in Chennai Super Kings could not be used as their jersey clashes with the team colours," said a source.
"But the ICC has made a special exemption to allow these teams to use the player's images provided their team logo is clearly visible." BCCI president Shashank Manohar would brief the country's top players about the 'do's and don'ts' under the ambush marketing clause before the Governing Council meeting in Mumbai on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}"But the ICC has made a special exemption to allow these teams to use the player's images provided their team logo is clearly visible." BCCI president Shashank Manohar would brief the country's top players about the 'do's and don'ts' under the ambush marketing clause before the Governing Council meeting in Mumbai on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}While it was confirmed that Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh will attend the briefing, don't be surprised if Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and skipper MS Dhoni join them along with a few juniors in the Cup squad.
The Indian players have already signed plethora of commercial deals in the run up to the tournament with companies that are in direct conflict with the official sponsors.