The IPL- Media tussle over the media guidelines seems to persist despite the Twenty20 governing body relenting to many issues raised the media fraternity.

The News Broadcasters Association, an umbrella body of television broadcasters, have decided to boycott IPL, trigerring a prospect that many channels would resort to a blackout.

The decision to boycott IPL was conveyed to IPL boss Lalit Modi by the organisation’s secretary general Annie Joseph.

The exclusive rights given to ony Network and IPL’s refusal to discuss this is the bone of contention.
BCCI president Sharad Pawar, however, said he has told IPL boss Lalit Modi that he does not want to hear any complaints from media.

The country’s premier news agency, The Press Trust of India, which had earlier hinted at a boycott of IPL, now says it will cover the event under protest.

The key issue over whether dedicated cricket web sites would be able to use pictures still remains unclear.
IPL it seems wants a cap on the number of photographs web sites can use, a clause which media agencies say would hit their business and see it as an infringement on their freedom.

The accreditation of media had ended on April 10 but most media personnel had refused to do the formalities with IPL in protest. Now IPL has agreed to extend the date, though only two days are left for it to start.

The reluctance of PTI would come as a severe blow to the organisers of the IPL tournament considering the fact that the news agency has a considerable amount of penetration among the various Indian publications. The last date for the application of accreditation was April 10, yesterday, and PTI has not filed for it, as PTI does not think the current terms and conditions are agreeable to them. PTI has also asserted that it would cover the tournament only if the terms of the agreement are changed.

Meanwhile, The Indian Newspaper Society, a representative body of newspaper publishers, has also voiced its displeasure at the media guidelines over covering the IPL. INS has said that it is disappointed at the fact that the new media rules put forth by the IPL organisers does not vary much from the initial media guideline, which saw a lot of protest from various media organisations. INS has also said that it IPL has also failed to the address the issues of intellectual property rights of the media as well as press freedom, which were highlghted by INS.

IPL head, Lalit Modi, meanwhile has said that he sees no issues in the smooth coverage of the tournament. According to Modi, IPL has received almost 1200 accreditations till now and he said that there are no issues with the tournament.

Reuters and AP, the other two international media giants operating in India, are also thought to be not too happy with the restrictions on media organisations in covering the IPL. According to IPL regulations, websites are not allowed to cover the tournament and also there is a ban on selling photographs to websites.

Modi said, “His contract is still valid and has not been cancelled. He is still contracted to the IPL and through it to the Kolkata Knight Riders”. According to the rules of the BCCI, a player who has been suspended by his country’s cricket board would not be allowed to play in the IPL tournament, Modi said.

On Thursday, BCCI officials had said that Shoaib Akhtar, who has been banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on charges of indiscipline for five years, would not be allowed to play in the IPL.

“We cannot have the situation where a player banned for any reason is harboured by the IPL. Currently his contract stands since he is in the appeal process… We hope it will be resolved at the earliest. His contract is not being cancelled presently,” Modi said.

Kolkata Kinght Riders team, the Kolkata IPL team owned by Shah Rukh Khan, had bought the Pakistani speedster during the player auction. Yesterday, Khan openly came out in support of Akhtar saying he was an important member of his team. Khan had also said that he would speak to Modi on this issue.

Shoaib Akhtar, who virtually faces the end of his cricketing career with a five year ban, is expected to appeal this week before an Pakistan Appellate Tribunal.