Contract in the balance
Nike reviews sponsorship of Warne
Posted: Wednesday December 09, 1998 09:38 AM
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Warne says he was naive and stupid at the time he sold information to a bookmaker Ben Radford/Allsport |
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Leading test cricketer Shane Warne's multi-million dollar contract with U.S. sports apparel giant Nike Inc. hung in the balance Wednesday after he admitted selling information to an Indian bookmaker in 1994.
Nike executives late Wednesday remained locked in discussions with Warne and declined to comment on whether he will continue as a Nike-endorsed sportsman.
A spokeswoman for Nike said a statement on Warne's future with the company will be issued Thursday.
The company heavily promotes Warne, one of the sport's all-time great bowlers, to sell its products across Asia and the cricket-mad subcontinent.
Warne and teammate Mark Waugh said they received payments of 5,000 Australian dollars (US$3,100) 6,000 Australian dollars (US$3,720) respectively from a Madras-based bookmaker during a 1994 tour of Sri Lanka.
The pair were fined a total of 18,000 Australian dollars (US$11,160) by the Australian Cricket Board when the matter came to its attention in February 1995. The event was covered up by the sport's governing body until the news broke late Tuesday.
Warne and Waugh told reporters they sold information relating to ground conditions and weather to the bookmaker during a one-day tournament in Sri Lanka.
However, the two said they didn't engage in match-fixing and were guilty of only being "naive" and "stupid."
The disclosure is significant because it was on a tour of Pakistan days after their team had left Sri Lanka that Waugh and Warne claim they were approached by Pakistani cricketer Salim Malik and offered US$200,000 each to play poorly.
They refused these offers.
Waugh and Australian captain Mark Taylor gave evidence to a Pakistani inquiry into match-fixing and betting, which has centered on allegations surrounding Malik, during the national team's tour of that country earlier this year.
Warne and Waugh are well known across the cricketing world, and endorse many products including clothes, sunglasses, nicotine patches and anti-dandruff shampoo.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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