PCB takes IMG Reliance to court in London [Update Post #168]

[MenInG]

PCB's response:

PCB statement on production of HBL PSL 2019

Dubai, 17 February 2019:

The Pakistan Cricket Board today confirmed IMG Reliance will not live produce matches of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2019 after Sunday’s matches in Dubai. The announcement of the new live broadcast partner is likely to be made on Monday following the signing of a new agreement.

“We have been informed by IMG Reliance that they will be unable to partner with us for the remaining HBL PSL 2019 and PCB has reserved all its rights. The PCB always had a contingency plan in place, and we are confident we will be in a position to announce the new partner on Monday after the completion of the formalities,” PCB’s Managing Director Wasim Khan said.

Wasim added: “The PCB has also noted the recent turn of events and expresses its extreme disappointment as we have always believed and emphasised that sports and politics should be kept separate. History tells us that sports, particularly cricket, have always played a key role in building bridges between people and countries.

“Unfortunately, denying India cricket fans the right to follow HBL PSL by blocking all digital coverage as well as covering or removing portrait of former Pakistan cricket captain and Prime Minister Imran Khan and other legendary cricketers from one of the most historic cricket clubs and venues are highly regrettable actions.

“The PCB intends to take up these incidents with the BCCI and the ICC at the upcoming ICC committee meeting in Dubai later this month.”

 

[Major]

“The PCB intends to take up these incidents with the BCCI and the ICC at the upcoming ICC committee meeting in Dubai later this month.”

) what has BCCI got to do with this????? Or even ICC


uncle uncle, yaye hamara show nahi dekha ray )

 

[Savak]

PCB's response:

PCB statement on production of HBL PSL 2019

Dubai, 17 February 2019:

The Pakistan Cricket Board today confirmed IMG Reliance will not live produce matches of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2019 after Sunday’s matches in Dubai. The announcement of the new live broadcast partner is likely to be made on Monday following the signing of a new agreement.

“We have been informed by IMG Reliance that they will be unable to partner with us for the remaining HBL PSL 2019 and PCB has reserved all its rights. The PCB always had a contingency plan in place, and we are confident we will be in a position to announce the new partner on Monday after the completion of the formalities,” PCB’s Managing Director Wasim Khan said.

Wasim added: “The PCB has also noted the recent turn of events and expresses its extreme disappointment as we have always believed and emphasised that sports and politics should be kept separate. History tells us that sports, particularly cricket, have always played a key role in building bridges between people and countries.

“Unfortunately, denying India cricket fans the right to follow HBL PSL by blocking all digital coverage as well as covering or removing portrait of former Pakistan cricket captain and Prime Minister Imran Khan and other legendary cricketers from one of the most historic cricket clubs and venues are highly regrettable actions.

“The PCB intends to take up these incidents with the BCCI and the ICC at the upcoming ICC committee meeting in Dubai later this month.”

This statement is a bit weak, no mention of any legal action and she even mention the BCCI and the ICC here, what do they have to do with IMG?

 

[Ed_]

This statement is a bit weak, no mention of any legal action and she even mention the BCCI and the ICC here, what do they have to do with IMG?

You and your obsession with legal actions.

 

[Ed_]

Blessing in disguise for PCB that they have a 2 day break.

Imagine if it was game day tomorrow and they have nobody to produce visuals.

 

[saeed5646]

Blessing in disguise for PCB that they have a 2 day break.

Imagine if it was game day tomorrow and they have nobody to produce visuals.

wishful thinking they could have stopped immediately after the attack why it took them 4 days.i can feel the inside pain for many ..btw tomorrow new broadcaster will be announced

 

[Savak]

On a side note, I am pleasantly surprised that the pcb had a back up contingency plan all along

 

[Ed_]

wishful thinking they could have stopped immediately after the attack why it took them 4 days.i can feel the inside pain for many ..btw tomorrow new broadcaster will be announced

Good for PCB that they are in a position to announce a replacement tomorrow. They are lucky enough to have a 2 days break. I have no doubt they have the capabilities to find an immediate replacement.

 

[Greenstorm]

Hopefully, the new production team has better speed guns.

 

[Varun]

On a side note, I am pleasantly surprised that the pcb had a back up contingency plan all along

Believe it when you see it.

 

[Ed_]

On a side note, I am pleasantly surprised that the pcb had a back up contingency plan all along

Did you expect them to tell in an official press release that they are clueless even if there is no contingency plan in place.

 

[saeed5646]

Good for PCB that they are in a position to announce a replacement tomorrow. They are lucky enough to have a 2 days break. I have no doubt they have the capabilities to find an immediate replacement.

IMG-Reliance have chance to made this decision straight after the attack .Why it took them so long to announce ? .Business is not run on emotions there seems to be back door agreement between the two parties

 

[MightyObnoxious]

Good for PCB that they are in a position to announce a replacement tomorrow. They are lucky enough to have a 2 days break. I have no doubt they have the capabilities to find an immediate replacement.

PCB has said in the statement they will announce the replacement tomorow and that they always have a abck up. I am liking the new competent PCB

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

So we will suddenly have different commentators? That would be a little strange.

Obviously Pak will keep Ramiz and all the other locals. But we could expect some other foreign commentators.

 

[Chokli]

So we will suddenly have different commentators? That would be a little strange.

Obviously Pak will keep Ramiz and all the other locals. But we could expect some other foreign commentators.

yeah the commentators part is a bit weird... i thought PCB selected the commentators

 

[Greenstorm]

So we will suddenly have different commentators? That would be a little strange.

Obviously Pak will keep Ramiz and all the other locals. But we could expect some other foreign commentators.

I think commentators will stay.

 

[a_tahir]

IMG-Reliance have chance to made this decision straight after the attack .Why it took them so long to announce ? .Business is not run on emotions there seems to be back door agreement between the two parties

I think reliance just gave pcb a chance to find a new broadcaster.
Reliance didn't have an option tbh. Looking at how indians are reacting it would have been a no brainer for them

 

[a_tahir]

yeah the commentators part is a bit weird... i thought PCB selected the commentators

Why would they change?

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

yeah the commentators part is a bit weird... i thought PCB selected the commentators

Would be something if we suddenly hear Pommie or Ntini

 

[Chokli]

Would be something if we suddenly hear Pommie or Ntini

lol keep ntini far away as possible

pommie is great though

 

[saeed5646]

Would be something if we suddenly hear Pommie or Ntini

then who will host on going SL vs SA test series

Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

There will be blowback from this mark my words.

 

[a_tahir]

There will be blowback from this mark my words.

What do u think will happen?

 

[Savak]

Can Techfront pull out of their tv rights deal with the psl and the pcb?

 

[Madplayer]

Pakistanis should never trust Indians to stay true to their word.

 

[trickyone]

Heard PCB will be getting $5mil from Reliance for breaking the contract...

Still waiting for official confirmation...

 

[Syed1]

Reliance probably thought pulling out will put PSL in jeopardy... unfortunate for them PCB will have new contract by tomorrow

 

[Chokli]

Pakistanis should never trust Indians to stay true to their word.

yup and always have a back up plan if indians try to show their aukaad

 

[msb314]

This statement is a bit weak, no mention of any legal action and she even mention the BCCI and the ICC here, what do they have to do with IMG?

Completely agree with you here sir.

When the PCB should be making a strong stance - we are having to hear weak generic statements about how the PCB is "dissapointed" and how "cricket and politics should be kept separate".

We have gone into the rabbit hole enough times already to know that such wishful thinking no longer holds true.

 

[msb314]

There will be blowback from this mark my words.

How and what?

Do you have inside information?

 

[Snowflake]

Can anyone elaborate what "blocking production" actually means in this context and how it affects the PSL's coverage worldwide?

 

[Saj]

Harsh lesson and a wake-up call for those PCB officials who were allegedly getting backhanders from these deals.

What we will see after this is deals being done with more care, accountability and thought.

 

[Saj]

Can anyone elaborate what "blocking production" actually means in this context and how it affects the PSL's coverage worldwide?

Basically bringing the coverage onto television screens around the world.

 

[superman]

They gave the pcb the extra days as they will need to negate the amount of loss they cause. Pretty sure they have a contract in place and any loss in coverage leads to severage damgea. PCB will now have ro tey its best to find an alternative but an alternative today would have been impossible and therefore very expensive to compensate so makes perfect sense.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Harsh lesson and a wake-up call for those PCB officials who were allegedly getting backhanders from these deals.

What we will see after this is deals being done with more care, accountability and thought.

Sunset Vine quit. Now IMG Reliance. Companies always have get out clauses. Thats how contracts work.

 

[Snowflake]

Basically bringing the coverage onto television screens around the world.

Okay, that's significant. I'm surprised they went with an Indian company for that, given the volatile situation between the two countries. But then again, you wouldn't expect a production company to go this route due to political issues.

 

[Saj]

Sunset Vine quit. Now IMG Reliance. Companies always have get out clauses. Thats how contracts work.

Yes I'm pretty sure IMG will have clauses in the contract saying they can pull out of the deal in situations like the current one.

 

[Saj]

I'm surprised they went with an Indian company for that, given the volatile situation between the two countries

Absolutely spot on, but as I said in another post, deals which make officials money will always be favoured.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

[MENTION=76058]cricketjoshila[/MENTION]

I smell fake news - there has been no blackout in match's production which is contradictory to what the indian news link says? Also only two links have reported this news.

Its similar to Quetta blast fake news which was propagated by Indian news only today!

Your media is known to propogate fake news tbh. They have done so many many times. I still remember how they reported fake news of Russians cancelling their military exercise after the Uri attack.

Agreed, doesn't seem to be too major... Matches are also still being broadcast...

 

[Savak]

Yes I'm pretty sure IMG will have clauses in the contract saying they can pull out of the deal in situations like the current one.

I dont IMG can pull out like this causing damage to the PCB and PSL without compensating the PCB

 

[Saj]

I dont IMG can pull out like this causing damage to the PCB and PSL without compensating the PCB

As I wrote, it all depends on the smallprint.

There is no way IMG will have pulled out of this if they knew they would have to pay the PCB millions in compensation.

 

[Savak]

As I wrote, it all depends on the smallprint.

There is no way IMG will have pulled out of this if they knew they would have to pay the PCB millions in compensation.

Actually given the massive anti Pakistan sentiment in India, it is perfectly plausible for them to be willing to pay $5-10 million to the PCB as opposed to upsetting an already inflamed public by continuing to provide services to the PCB and the PSL.

I sincerely hopes the PCB makes them pay for this and not get away with it scott free by doing this to the PCB and the PSL right bang in the middle of the tournament

 

[coy0607]

the PCB should now stop engaging and even ban all business with any Indian business entity

 

[habibi hayya]

As I wrote, it all depends on the smallprint.

There is no way IMG will have pulled out of this if they knew they would have to pay the PCB millions in compensation.

Such a clause is unlikely unless PCB completely dropped their pants to bring IMG Reliance on board.

 

[QalandarFan]

Why was the production team of the PSL an Indian Company? I'm shocked.

Hopefully the new production team is better.

 

[a_tahir]

Can't believe the indian media is spreading lies just to satisfy its audience.
They just "reported" a bomb blast in quetta that killed pak soldiers. People (indians) are actually believing it.
Pakistanis situated in quetta have not been informed of any such attack possibly due to the reason THERE WAS NO ATTACK.
it is not being reported by any pak news channel either

 

[Balthazar]

Pakistanis should never trust Indians to stay true to their word.

There was a two days gap, so IMG informed them earliest so that PCB could look for new production unit beofr wthe next match starts.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Sorry but there have to be some ethics in business and this is a breakage of contract - there have to be penalties.

Agreed, this is extremely unprofessional.

 

[Savak]

Agreed, this is extremely unprofessional.

Those blaming the PCB for signing up with an Indian company given the fragile Pakistan India relationship need to blame the other side as well, IMG Reliance can also be asked the same questions? In which context and world is it justified to abandon a contract midway leaving the other party inconvenienced.

My suspicion is that IMG Reliance probably agreed to pay and compensate the PCB for getting out of the contract which is why the PCB hasn't really made as big a deal out of this as they would have usually.

 

[Sunny_majoka]

i was talking about psl....elite Caribbean star are not playing in current psl which is not effecting psl little. so missing much inferior w.i players (if not allowed) from psl won,t make a big difference..

what next county players ban?

Pcb should take brave step and
Try to shift psl in april parallel to Ipl.
It will still give them bigger pool for international cricketers

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Those blaming the PCB for signing up with an Indian company given the fragile Pakistan India relationship need to blame the other side as well, IMG Reliance can also be asked the same questions? In which context and world is it justified to abandon a contract midway leaving the other party inconvenienced.

My suspicion is that IMG Reliance probably agreed to pay and compensate the PCB for getting out of the contract which is why the PCB hasn't really made as big a deal out of this as they would have usually.

They most likely has paid out, but that's not the point. This makes them appear unreliable which is bad for business.

 

[Runner Up]

IMG had no choice left. Hardliners are more stronger.

 

[MenInG]

Why was the production team of the PSL an Indian Company? I'm shocked.

Hopefully the new production team is better.

Lesson learnt I suppose. PCB probably went by reputation and possibly sweet talking by marketing men from IMG. Never again.

PSL is a strategic asset of sorts and is not to be entrusted to people who are stooges of foreign governments.

 

[MenInG]

Yes I'm pretty sure IMG will have clauses in the contract saying they can pull out of the deal in situations like the current one.

Such huge contracts are usually water-tight from both ends. Lets see what more news comes out.

 

[Red Devil]

Any news about a new production team? Wonder if we'll still have all the DRS technology.

 

[MenInG]

Any news about a new production team? Wonder if we'll still have all the DRS technology.

Nothing yet but have to say, unless they had people lined up before, this will be a major achievement.

 

[Savak]

Lesson learnt I suppose. PCB probably went by reputation and possibly sweet talking by marketing men from IMG. Never again.

PSL is a strategic asset of sorts and is not to be entrusted to people who are stooges of foreign governments.

Lol, if the likes of Geo Super, PTV Sports and others just offer the PCB $5 million for the PSL rights and in comes the Indian broadcasters offering $36 million, what will any rational board do? Pakistani broadcasters need to be more patriotic and stop low balling

 

[Slim]

There was a two days gap, so IMG informed them earliest so that PCB could look for new production unit beofr wthe next match starts.

Wow, thank you so much for the two days gap and putting PSL under threat of non-coverage. This is unprofessionalism of the highest order.

 

[xricket]

We wouldn't be able to watch on cricketgateway.pk, since the company also owns that site

 

[ARK Rafay]

We wouldn't be able to watch on cricketgateway.pk, since the company also owns that site

Hopefully PCB can come up with an alternative. Or livestream on their YouTube channel just like Cricketgateway were doing

 

[xricket]

Hopefully PCB can come up with an alternative. Or livestream on their YouTube channel just like Cricketgateway were doing

Feeling sorry for those who subscribed to their premium season ticket for PSL. The broadcast was poor anyway. I really like graphics of Sky and Fox Australia along with NZ broadcasters. I hope we can get a good alternative

 

[shlazz]

IMGReliance will invoke the 'Force Majeure' clause to terminate and get out of the contract. Of course they will pay a fee to compensate PCB for immediate losses. There is no illegality in it and business contracts are done devoid of emotions or ethics.

Secondly PCB sold major rights to Techfront who re-sold the rights to IMGReliance as they themselves don't own a TV network nor TV productions logistics. PCB should have been more structured and strong in their negotiation with Techfront to safeguard the PSL brand. The stadiums are virtually empty and TV rights are the only revenue making stream for PCB to keep PSL alive.

I think PCB will go with the production team of T10 League as a contingency plan.

 

[Ed_]

We wouldn't be able to watch on cricketgateway.pk, since the company also owns that site

No.

IMG Reliance just produces the visuals. They have nothing to do with broadcast rights. Broadcast rights are with Blitz. Blitz is still on board. PCb just needs to make stop gap production arrangements. Distribution is intact.

 

[Usman Chadda]

All binding contracts have a Force Majeure clause. It's a gross misuse of that clause, but they are well within their rights to do so.

 

[AFM]

I hope it's PTV sports. Get those 280p cameras in for the official Pak domestic look

On a serious note, there has to be a decent production company in Pakistan.

 

[BlackShadow]

Unprofessional from Reliance, but I guess such is the pressure after all these terror attacks.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Unprofessional from Reliance, but I guess such is the pressure after all these terror attacks.

Do you expect anything less?

PCB should only be dealing with western firms.

 

[Varun]

Do you expect anything less?

PCB should only be dealing with indigenous Pakistani companies.

Corrected. About time PCB learned to stand on its own two feet.

I promise you, Indian cricket don't rely on Pakistani companies for it to succeed - so not sure why the reverse has to be the case.

 

[Nov15]

Chief promoter of Reliance, Mukesh Ambani, is very close to Modi. Maybe the government nudged him to this. Answering questions about why a crony capitalist close to the ruling party is continuing his business with Pakistan is the last thing Modi wants going into elections.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Corrected. About time PCB learned to stand on its own two feet.

I promise you, Indian cricket don't rely on Pakistani companies for it to succeed - so not sure why the reverse has to be the case.

Pakistanis firms are not there yet.

 

[Varun]

Pakistanis firms are not there yet.

How come? Pakistan has hundreds of millions of cricket watchers, and Pakistan has been a major team for decades. Their own fault.

If anything, this is a perfect opportunity for a Pakistani production company (in this context) to step up to the plate.

 

[JibranAnsari]

Falling into the trap of election compaign , anyway pakistan should have a quality production company.

 

[Josh]

It is quite possible, reliance with help of some small foreign company, keeps producing PSL. There must have been back door communications with PCB.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

Corrected. About time PCB learned to stand on its own two feet.

I promise you, Indian cricket don't rely on Pakistani companies for it to succeed - so not sure why the reverse has to be the case.

It's a business deal. Do you think that Indian company was doing the work for charity?

 

[Varun]

It's a business deal. Do you think that Indian company was doing the work for charity?

No, the Indian company was being paid for their services. But hello? The keyword is 'Indian'. In a Pakistani operation. So anything can happen at anytime, and it did.

 

[Chikkeh]

We needed a better broadcaster after the dire standard definition pictures we were receiving in the uk. Bring in BT Sport

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

Great to hear the statement about how sports and politics should be kept separate and how cricket is used to strengthen ties. First time someone in PCB has acknowledged this.

 

[MightyObnoxious]

How come? Pakistan has hundreds of millions of cricket watchers, and Pakistan has been a major team for decades. Their own fault.

If anything, this is a perfect opportunity for a Pakistani production company (in this context) to step up to the plate.

Unfortunatley, not playing at home regularly for a decade now did hamper that. It's a big what if?Who knows? Someone woukd have stepped up and we might have had better sports channels too. But anyways there are a couple of compoanies in Pakistan, not there yet, but they will. There is this one company that I really liked that produced the PSL draft and the Pak v WI women series. Not there yet, but will be in three-four years time

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

Nobody cares about Reliance doing business in Croatia and Mexico. Pakistan will always be a special case for an Indian company if things started to heat up, and the PCB have burnt their fingers overnight and learned their lesson - and so should you.



We'll leave aside the small matter that your ancestors were probably Indian too.

So PCB was not Pakistani before these revenge killing. Secondly it was a bid through which the company qualify and being selected by PCB. So in simple words an Indian company applied in PCB for business deal & PCB agree to give some piece of pie to that company.

& for second part Indians meant Hindus.

 

[Varun]

So PCB was not Pakistani before these revenge killing. Secondly it was a bid through which the company qualify and being selected by PCB. So in simple words an Indian company applied in PCB for business deal & PCB agree to give some piece of pie to that company.

Hope your ancestors also told you that our companies will do anything for money - from gullible sources or not. So when things go South, Reliance has a lot less to lose than the PCB who have to activate supposed contingency plans in under 24 hours.

& for second part Indians meant Hindus.

Hello Sohail Tanvir, welcome to the forum!