MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Cricket needs to collaborate with players on sponsorship arrangements and consider their views on sustainability and ethical concerns, Australia bowler Adam Zampa said on Wednesday.
Ethical sponsorship has become a hot-button issue in Australian sport in recent weeks, with athletes raising concerns about corporate backers in a number of competitions.
Australia test and one-day Pat Cummins told Australian media this week he wanted climate to be a “real priority” when choosing sponsors and said he had spoken to CA boss Nick Hockley about his concerns.
Zampa applauded Cummins for his stance and said players should be more involved in sponsorship conversations.
“I think the fact that Pat has started that conversation is great,” the legspinner told reporters on Wednesday.
“I think there’s got to be a collaborative approach between players and CA and sponsors.”
Zampa, a vegan, said he tried to make ethical decisions in the way he lived his life and rejected the idea that players should just stick to playing sport.
“We’re obviously role models. I don’t think we necessarily just stick to playing,” he said.
“I think a collaborative approach is important. I do understand that money is important, we’re a part of a business. We are the face of that as well.”
CA said on Tuesday it had agreed to cut short a sponsorship deal with a local energy provider by a year but added that it was the company’s decision and not influenced by any conversation between Cummins and Hockley.
The sport’s global governing body, the International Cricket Council, announced last week it had signed a global partnership deal with Saudi oil giant Aramco to sponsor the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia and other ICC events.
The deal includes naming rights for the ICC Player of the Match awards.
Cricket’s international players union said it would back any player who opted out of a sponsor engagement over personal objections.
“If individual players do not want to be associated with a particular sponsor, we would support that,” Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations boss Tom Moffatt told Australian media.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
