Electronic media shunted out of Wankhede Stadium
April 1st, 2011 - 9:41 pm ICT by IANSMumbai, April 1 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) authorities ordered all electronic media personnel to vacate the Wankhede Stadium premises Friday afternoon, barely 24 hours before the much-anticipated India-Sri Lanka World Cup final.
Agitated electronic media personnel cried foul over the move, purportedly under instructions from the International Cricket Council (ICC), and protested the manner in which they were virtually thrown out of the stadium.
Times Now TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswamy condemned the action and termed it “undemocratic.”
“Nowhere in the world is the press - comprising the print and electronic medium - barred for attending or covering events like the press conference of the Indian cricket team, the chief of BCCI and other happenings,” an agitated Goswamy told IANS.
The combined media channels are now locked in negotiations with the ICC authorities in an attempt to sort out the issue.
Goswamy said that they were attempting to “make the ICC see reason and we hope something positive comes out very soon.”
Around two dozen TV channel crews - correspondents, camerapersons and sound engineers - from Mumbai and other parts of the country waited outside the stadium, disappointed at missing the action inside on the eve of India-Sri Lanka final.
“We also have accreditation for the final match, we were allowed inside since yesterday. Suddenly, as the tempo was building up, we were ordered to leave the venue,” said a news channel correspondent.
Another woman correspondent said that they were not even allowed to shoot the practice sessions going in the stadium or any other major pre-match events and termed this “demoralising.”
A senior correspondent of a Mumbai-based Hindi news channel said that they were meted out a step-motherly treatment in terms of setting up equipment to cover the most important event in cricket.
“We have been fully co-operating with everybody, right from the security to the BCCI officials. However, our OB (outside broadcast) vans were allotted parking space nearly 3 km away from the venue, Chowpatty to the north, Colaba to the south and Masjid Bunder to the east, making it extremely difficult to carry out our duties,” he lamented.
Despite repeated attempts, top BCCI officials were not available for comments on the issue.
- ICC allows channels to cover final, cracks down on guidelines' breach (Roundup) - Apr 01, 2011
- Two Indian channels banned from covering World Cup final - Apr 02, 2011
- ICC chief Pawar clueless on media non-rights holders' issue - Apr 01, 2011
- Maharashtra lawmakers fume over not getting World Cup tickets - Apr 01, 2011
- ICC takes away India-England World Cup game from Eden Gardens (Roundup) - Jan 28, 2011
- Eden Gardens will not host India-England World Cup match (Second Lead) - Jan 27, 2011
- BCCI asks ICC to reconsider decision on Eden - Jan 28, 2011
- End row over ban on channels: Congress, BJP - Apr 01, 2011
- Kapil Dev slams ban on media from covering WC final - Apr 01, 2011
- All eyes will be on Kotla pitch - Feb 18, 2011
- ICC confirms Bangalore as venue for India-England match - Jan 31, 2011
- Work at Eden speeded up, CAB still hopeful about England tie - Jan 28, 2011
- Dalmiya seeks ten-day grace, urges board to persuade ICC - Jan 28, 2011
- ICC lifts ban on news channels' coverage of World Cup final (Lead) - Apr 01, 2011
- Teams leave for Wankhede Stadium - Apr 02, 2011
Tags: accreditation, april 1, arnab, correspondent, correspondents, dozen tv, electronic media, electronic medium, final match, friday afternoon, important event, india bcci, indian cricket team, international cricket council, media channels, practice sessions, sound engineers, tv channel, tv editor, world cup final