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Logo war in Kuala Lumpur

The Indian cricketers participating in the Commonwealth Games, may have lost a fortune by not being allowed to use their endorsement logos.

But the other Indian sportspersons are merrily displaying their logos, without fear of reprimand either by the Indian Olympic Association or by the organisers.

The main culprits are the Indian badminton players. Throughout their team championship matches, the Indian players wore T.shirts with the name of their employers or sponsors written on the back. While Madhumita Bisht, even though a Northern Railway officer, displayed 'Bank of India', several others had 'State Bank' and 'Air India' written large on their T shirts - a direct contravention of the rules.

As if this was not enough, players quickly pasted 'Indian Oil' and 'Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)' on their clothes when the Indian teams won a silver and a bronze in the team championship on Monday.

This was to get their sponsors mileage during the medal presentation ceremony, which was being shown live to several countries. Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad gave away the medals to the winners.

The Indian cricketers, however, played in spotless white apparel, losing a fortune by failing to display the logos of their sponsors.

This owes not so much to the rules, which are being flaunted with impunity by other teams, but to the tug of war between the IOA and the Indian cricket board. The IOA had, as part of its salvoes prior to the Games, insisted the Indian cricketers would not be allowed to use the logos of their sponsors -- and despite the other teams and players sporting logos, the IOA has stuck to its guns with respect to the cricketers.

The IOA was actually promoting its own commercial interests. It had struck a deal with sports goods company Reebok -- and went on to issue a circular ordering all Indian athletes to wear track suits and shirts supplied by Reebok.

Even players who do not have any personal sponsorship deal with any company are finding it difficult to abide by the IOA diktat -- simply because the track suits and shirts, provided by Reebok are the worst used by any team in Kuala Lumpur.

In baggy white track suits, mostly ill fitted, Indian sportspersons look nothing better than circus clowns. In fact, the Indian players have been desperately trying all sorts of ploys to hoodwink the IOA officials and thus avoid wearing the shabby outfits.