TheSportsCampus

The sporting world is truly in shock after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the chairman of Stanford Financial Group, Sir Robert Allen Stanford in an $8 billion fraudulent investment scheme earlier this week.

The England and Wales Cricket Board today served notice that it was terminating, with immediate effect, its contracts with the Stanford group and would therefore not be proceeding with any further Stanford Twenty20 matches in Antigua or the Stanford-sponsored international Quadrangular Twenty20 events in England (the first of which had been due to be held at Lord's in May this year).

At a meeting of the ECB Executive Committee held on February 20, ECB Chief Executive David Collier confirm ed the notice sent to Counties on February 19 that the Executive Committee and ECB Board, during the budget process, had taken a prudent view to income from a number of sources. As a result, the termination of the Stanford agreements had no impact on the projected Fee Payments to Counties nor the Recreational Assembly.

John Pickup, Chairman of the Recreational Assembly, commented, "At a time when the global economic climate is putting great pressure on sponsorship and finances for club and community sport, the ECB has taken a responsible and prudent attitude to its financial planning. Over the past four years we have made great strides in the funding for the recreational game and the certainty of income has been a key factor in the game being able to deliver increases in participation numbers in excess of 20% in each of the past two years."

David East, Chief Executive of Essex CCC and a member of the Executive Committee,said, "The communication from ECB yesterday that the termination of the Stanford agreements would not negatively impact our Fee Payments was a great relief to all Counties. Today the further confirmation of this fact allows Counties to move forward with their 2009 budgets given that, for some Counties the ECB Fee Payment accounts for the majority of their income. The economic climate is very difficult at present, in particular in the area of sponsorship and corporate hospitality, and therefore a solid income base through the ECB Fee Payments is critical to all Counties which is why we were anxious to receive this confirmation. The Executive Committee fully supported the Board's decision to terminate the Stanford agreements."

ECB Chief Executive David Collier added: 'ECB was shocked by the charges filed against the Stanford organisation and personnel earlier this week by the SEC. Within minutes of the announcement, ECB determined to suspend any further discussions with Stanford and the Board has now agreed to terminate the ECB's agreements with Stanford. Given the uncertainty of the financial markets and the sponsorship dispute between Digicel and the West Indies Cricket Board over the matches in Antigua in 2008, the Executive Committee and Board when setting the 2009 budgets took a prudent position in creating a contingency in case the Antigua matches did not proceed. For that reason, ECB was able to confirm immediately to Counties and the Recreational Assembly that there would be no impact on Fee Payments in 2009.'

Though the Texan billionaire made a huge splash in the cricket world last year, we were surprised in our research to discover that the tentacles of the Stanfrod group reach far and wide. The ATP Tour was using the Stanford Financial Group as an investment advisor and has terminated that agreement with immediate effect. Stanford Financial also has a sponsorship deal with the Tour that began in 2005, and in addition to this, in 2006, it entered into a three-year arrangement to be the title sponsor for the ATP Doubles Team Race.

The Stanford Financial Group is also the title sponsor for the Sony Ericsson Open, a joint men's and women's event in Key Biscayne, Florida that begins on March 25.

New York Yankee's baseball stars Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady are among the investors whose accounts were caught in a freeze by the government once information of the supposed fraud broke through. In the Golfing world, Stanford Financial is the title sponsor of the PGA Tour event in Memphis. It also has personal endorsement contracts with some of the world's top players like Vijay Singh and Camilo Villegas. The Stanford group also sponsors a couple of tournaments on the LPGA tour and is one of the Founding Partners of the AT&T National PGA TOUR event hosted by Tiger Woods.

If this wasn't enough the group is also involved in Polo and Sailing!

Photograph Copyright: Yaman