MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sharad Pawar and the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Malcolm Speed met in New Delhi today to resolve the ad signage issue on two venues for the Champions Trophy.

The two sides said there was a "will" to resolve the problems, but came out with no definite details.

"The BCCI and the ICC now have a clear understanding of each other's point of view. We hope to solve the issues as soon as possible so that we can concentrate on the preparation for the 2006 Champions Trophy," Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Pawar as saying after the meeting.

Central to the conflict is the ad signage in two venues - Mumbai and Delhi. The BCCI finds itself in a tricky situation since these venues have their own agreements with various corporate sponsors.

While Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA), which organizes cricket at Ferozshah Kotla ground, has a contract with tobacco-to-retail major ITC, Mumbai Cricket Association is associated with the Tatas.
This encroaches upon the ICC's requirement of signage-free grounds. Eden Garden at Kolkata, which is the third venue for Champions Trophy to be held later this year, doesn’t have such problems and is not affected.

According to Speed, one of the issues arising out of the existing contract with Global Cricket Corporation, which holds the rights for all ICC events till 2007, is that ICC "require(s) clean cricket venues."

"The grounds must be free of any ad signage so that we can maximise the revenue for our sponsors," the PTI report quoted the ICC chief as saying. Speed, however, refused to speculate on whether the matches would be moved out of Mumbai and Delhi.

A similar conflict had occurred when England hosted Champions Trophy in 2004. Lord's in London was not picked as a venue because of similar constraints. Instead, The Oval was included among the tournament's three venues and it ultimately hosted the final in which West Indies defeated England.