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US$20 million game
Stanford offers huge purse for winner of all star 20/20 cricket match
BY Garfield Myers Editor-at-Large South/Central Bureau myesrg@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Coolidge, Antigua - Texan billionaire Allen Stanford says he will be offering US$20 million in prize money for a one-off 'OK Corral' style 20/20 clash between an All-Stars Stanford 20/20 West Indies team and one of the world's top teams.

STANFORD. this is all about sports business, big time business

Stanford, speaking to a small group of regional and international journalists here on the weekend for the semi-finals and final of the US$1-million first prize Stanford 20/20 tournament, gave no specific timelines nor did he identify an international team.

Previous efforts to organise a similar winner-take-all, one-off game between a Stanford All-Stars team against, first South Africa, and then India, winners of last September's ICC 20/20 World Cup, failed.

But Stanford, who says he is spending US$100 million over three years on the regional Stanford 20/20 tournament, insisted that the planned one-off, US$20 million game was definitely in the works.

"What I eventually plan to do is what I call the OK Corral. anytime, any place, you come down on our field to play us one game, 20-20, one game, one night for US$20 million," he said.

"That's our players against your team, everybody has got to be drug tested .we test all of our players for drugs, no steroids, no HGH, and you got to have a litmus test of residency.

". so, you got a big Australia, a big England come down to play our eight or nine million collective population from our group of islands. When we take my best players off of that we will play you any time. right here on our field., and we will see who wins.," he said.

Stanford was confident that the "obstacles" that had foiled his previous efforts at a winner-take-all All-Stars game had now been cleared.
"(After) the first tournament (in 2006) we had South Africa all lined up to come and play our super stars and we got derailed and I won't talk negative.," he said. (But) we got some people who (don't want) to see that happen and that's just the truth. We have overcome those obstacles. When I was in South Africa. in September to see India play Pakistan, I offered the winner to come over here and play for a purse of five million dollars, and then I said 'I will give you US$10 million'.

"The BCCI (Indian Cricket Board) said 'no, we don't want to do that, we would be endorsing a privately funded programme'. But look at what they have done.," he said in reference to the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).

"This is all about sports business, big time business.," Stanford said, arguing that new, innovative approaches to sports and entertainment were needed to attract young people.

Stanford said his decision to invest heavily in West Indies cricket was motivated by a desire to bring professionalism to West Indies cricket, restore the regional game as a winner on the world stage, as well as to make money and have fun.


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