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TV dispute over

Doordarshan to telecast Indo-Pak series

AFP, New Delhi
Cricket
An Indian court ordered public broadcaster Doordarshan to telecast the upcoming cricket matches against Pakistan, ending speculation the high-profile tour could be cancelled due to a TV rights row.
Judge KP Sivasubramanian of the Madras High Court ruled in an interim order that Doordarshan be given the rights for the tour and asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to organise the production of the telecast.
"I am sure cricket fans will be happy now," a TV channel quoted the judge as saying on Thursday.
He added a final judgement would be made later in the writ petition filed by Zee Telefilms, India's largest listed media com-
pany, after it was denied the TV rights by the BCCI last September.
The BCCI backed out of a four-year, 308-million dollar deal with Zee after it was challenged in court by rival ESPN-STAR Sports, jointly owned by Disney and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
Doordarshan had also telecast the home series against Australia and South Africa earlier in the season on the advice of the Supreme Court.
BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra welcomed the interim order, saying all doubts about the Pakistan tour taking place had been removed.
"We will abide by the court's judgement and finalise the production details soon," said Mahendra.
The judge, however, prohibited the BCCI from hiring either Zee or ESPN-Star Sports for the production.
Both channels had offered to
produce the telecast to end the current impasse after the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday the series was unlikely to be played if the TV issue was not solved.
Pakistan are due to arrive here on Monday to play three Tests and five one-day internationals on their first full tour of India since 1999.
The tour, shrouded in confusion and controversy, has already been delayed by three days due to a dispute over venues.
The Pakistan Cricket Board had threatened to pull out if India insisted on hosting a test in Ahmedabad, the main city of the western state of Gujarat that witnessed the country's worst Hindu-Muslim riots in a decade in 2002.
India scrapped the Ahmedabad Test while Pakistan agreed to play an additional one-dayer there.
SEE PAGE 14 COL 5 FROM PAGE 13
The Indian government banned all home and away cricket with Pakistan in 2000 due to political tensions, but reversed its decision after a thaw in relations.
India toured Pakistan after a 14-year-gap last year, winning the Tests 2-1 and one-dayers 3-2.
Pakistan arrive in India on Monday for three Tests and six one-dayers. The first Test starts in Mohali on March 8.