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World Cup put out of bounds for news channels

NEW DELHI: Putting a spanner in the coverage of the much-awaited India-Pakistan cricket semifinal, the ICC has unexpectedly cancelled the media accreditation of television channels. The decision has been strongly criticized by TV channels as "infringement of media rights". An e-mail sent by ICC to TV channels on Sunday said, "Please be advised that your accreditation has been cancelled for Wednesday's ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semifinal match between India and Pakistan in Mohali. You will therefore not be granted a media match-day ticket and will not be allowed to enter the ground. In addition, you will not have access to any event-related activities such as pre and post-match media conferences and team training sessions." The move comes on the back of allegations by the ICC that TV channels were using more TV footage than was agreed upon. An ICC spokesman said, "There have been serious violations of news access guidelines, as well as media terms and conditions, which the non-rights holders had signed on and agreed to abide by while applying for media accreditation for the ICC Cricket World Cup." The News Broadcasters Association has reacted strongly to this restrictive step. "The last two-three days, news broadcasters were getting threatening letters from the ICC asking them to sign an undertaking which was restrictive and unacceptable at this crucial juncture of the World Cup. The issue was discussed in the board meeting and all broadcasters have decided to voluntarily desist from accessing the match venue or availing any other accreditation benefits. We are all united in this," Annie Joseph, secretary general, NBA said. Reacting to the media ban Shazi Zaman, Broadcast Editor's Association president said, "ICC is withdrawing accreditation of the entire electronic media. This means that we are deprived of covering not just the match but also the Indo-Pak political event. This is an infringement of media rights."

                                                                                                               
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