Indians don't sign those

The World Cup contracts row intensified Friday after India's cricketers signed the contentious terms without accepting the controversial ambush marketing clauses, officials said.

Saurav Ganguly's men, currently touring New Zealand, signed the players terms and couriered them back to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ahead of the January 14 deadline.

BCCI spokesman Rajiv Shukla said the players had not accepted the clauses which prohibit them from endorsing non-official sponsors 30 days before and five days after the World Cup.

"I am told the players have deleted the clauses pertaining to sponsorships," Shukla said.

"The BCCI has already told the International Cricket Council (ICC) that it cannot force its players to forego existing deals with companies which are not the tournament's official sponsors."

Ganguly was quoted by the Press Trust of India news agency as saying from Auckland that the "players' stand had already been explained in detail to the ICC."

"We are in contact with the BCCI," Ganguly said. "We have told the ICC what our problems are.

"We have given our terms and conditions. There are certain areas that need to be looked into," the Indian captain was quoted as saying.

The players are apparently willing to persuade their sponsors not to air conflicting advertisements only during the World Cup to be played in Africa from February 8 to March 23.

They are also not willing to let their images be used by the official sponsors for three months after the event.

"We all feel at the end of the day, it's got to be an adjustment from both the sides," Ganguly was quoted as saying.

"It can never be one-sided, whether it is the players or the ICC.

"We've made our statement clear that this is what we can do and this is what we can't. The rest is up to them."

The ICC, already burdened by growing fears of playing in Zimbabwe, which co-hosts the World Cup with South Africa and Kenya, reportedly wants the matter to be resolved by the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland.

By setting a January 14 deadline, the ICC has negated its own ruling that non-official endorsements have to cease 30 days before the tournament starts on February 8.

But any further concessions by the ICC or the official tournament sponsors, as demanded by India, are unlikely.

The ICC insists India meet its contractual obligations after signing the Participating Nations Agreement (PNA) last year.

India argues its players cannot be expected to breach sponsorship deals which pre-date the PNA contract.

Most Indian stars, including Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly, enjoy lucrative personal sponsorships which they may have to forego if the current World Cup contracts are adhered to.

A similar row erupted before the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in September, but the ICC waived the sponsorship rule to allow India's best players to take part.