The ICC has decided to take legal action against the Indian news channels it alleges to have breached the broadcasting guidelines for the ongoing World Cup. The decision was made after the National Broadcasters Association (NBA) and the Broadcast Editors Association (BEA), in a meeting with India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, according to the ICC, refused to give assurances that they would desist from breaching the concerned guidelines in terms of coverage.
News channels, prior to the semi-final between India and Pakistan, had been barred from covering the game due to an alleged breach of the ICC's accreditation rules and guidelines. The problem was addressed after Ambika Soni, the minister for Information and Broadcasting, intervened on behalf of the news channels, proposing a '24-hour truce' and convening a meeting with broadcasters on March 31. But as a result of no assurances emerging from broadcasters at the meeting, the ICC chose to take the legal route.
"I am very disappointed that it has come to this, however, we need to do everything to protect our exclusive commercial rights and those of our partners. If that means we have to resort to legal action, that is regrettable but necessary," Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said. "At the Ministry's request, we travelled to New Delhi to meet with the NBA and BEA in an attempt to resolve the issue but they were unfortunately not willing to conform to the guidelines agreed with the ICC prior to the event.
"To ensure that there is no misunderstanding it is important for me to repeat that the News Access Guidelines for Broadcasting the ICC Cricket World Cup were issued in January 2011 and all news broadcasters were reminded of these Guidelines in a letter from the ICC on 27 January.
"Accreditations were issued to the NRH reporters and cameramen on condition that these guidelines were observed. Subsequently those guidelines were breached on several occasions, particularly in respect of the blatant commercialisation of ICC World Cup footage and proprietary data by certain news broadcasters. In the interests of the event, we have agreed to reinstate their accreditation for the final match of this hugely successful World Cup. However, following a number of written warnings to the channels concerned, it is now time for the ICC to act through the courts."