Howard Walker, Staff Reporter
A NEW law called the Sunset Legislation must be enforced by November 2006 to facilitate the control of "ambush marketing", says Chris Dehring, CEO of the ICC CWC 2007 Inc.
Dehring made this announce-ment at a media briefing and reception between the Jamaica Local Organising Committee and ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 on Sunday, at the CWC car park on St. Lucia Avenue.
Sunset Legislation is the term used to describe legislation added to the statute books for a fixed period of time. It will address various legislative issues that are necessary to stage a successful ICC CWC 2007.
AMBUSH MARKETING
Ambush marketing is an unauthorised activity by a person which is intended to:
Create an association with the event and/or exploit or utilise the publicity or the goodwill of the event and/or:
Have the effect of diminishing or appropriating the status as such, of sponsors, broadcasters or other official licensees in regard to the event and/or:
Have the effect of acquiring for such person, the status as such, of a sponsor, broadcaster or other official licensee in regard to the event.
"It is in our bid to ensure that 2007 World Cup is of world class standard across the board. It is a unique event and never before in a world game that an event of this magnitude being attempted in nine sovereign countries," said Dehring. "If you can recall, FIFA tried that once in 2002 in Korea and Japan and they then made it a policy decision not to do it again."
Dehring continued: "We are much braver than that in the Caribbean. We take on this challenge, so what we have done is created and drafted the Sunset Legislation - laws that will collectively bring us together, except when we were under colonial rule. This is our colonial rule."
WORKED TOGETHER
This Sunset Legislation has been drafted by all nine host countries and of the nine, Barbados is the first to have enacted it.
"It is important to regulate 'ambush marketing', a term that we have become accustomed to in the Caribbean, especially in the telecommunication sponsor-ship wars over West Indies cricket," said Dehring.
"Germany had their legislation that they had to pass to host the football World Cup," said Dehring who recently returned from Germany. "What is new is that it is the first time that nine countries, nine parliaments, nine attorney-generals have worked together to pass this law. It is important that all countries enact this law by November."
