Agencies will cover IPL tournament in South Africa

London: The Associated Press will cover this year's IPL cricket tournament in South Africa after organizers dropped unacceptable conditions on media outlets covering the event.
The AP and major international news organizations Reuters and Agence France-Presse had sought to persuade Indian Premier League organizers to change their minds about terms and conditions imposed on media coverage of the five-week long Twenty20 competition, starting on April 18.

The News Media Coalition, an association that represents a worldwide collection of news organizations, said it agreed to the deal with IPL chief executive Lalat Modi.

"The outcome allows us to provide coverage of what promises to be a newsworthy spectacle. We are grateful for the time that the IPL's officers have put into our successful dialogue," NMC spokesman Andrew Moger said.

Modi said: "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the global news media industry."

The main sticking point, a clause that barred news organizations from distributing news and photos to specialized cricket Web sites, has been removed following negotiations.

"It's a great outcome," said Dave Tomlin, the AP's associate general counsel. "Cricket is big news and we want to cover it. Now we can."

The world's major news agencies declined to cover last year's inaugural tournament because of similar issues. This year's tournament has been switched to South Africa because of security concerns in India.

The tournament features most of the world's leading cricketers signed on for eight Indian team franchises. It includes Australia captain Ricky Ponting as well as England's Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.