Magellan Financial Group – a major sponsor of Cricket Australia has terminated a three-year deal after a ball-tampering scandal continues.
The deal estimated at $20 million when it was signed in August 2017, with the company having naming rights sponsorship of domestic Test matches just one summer into the three-year deal.
David Warner was the mastermind behind the scandal which has seen him, skipper Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft hit with long-term bans.
Sports apparel maker Asics Corp had also terminated sponsorship contracts with both Warner and Bancroft.
As a result of last weekend’s events in Cape Town involving members of the Australian men’s cricket team and following the sanctions made by Cricket Australia, ASICS has terminated its sponsorship contracts with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, effective immediately.
— ASICS Australia (@ASICSaustralia) 28 March 2018
Australia’s vice-captain Warner and Smith have been banned from international as well as domestic cricket for 12 months and opening batsman Bancroft for nine months by Cricket Australia over the ball-tampering scandal during the third Test in South Africa.
Hamish Douglass, chief executive of the company, said: “Regrettably, these recent events are so inconsistent with our values that we are left with no option but to terminate our ongoing partnership with Cricket Australia.
“We were delighted with the recent Magellan Ashes Series sponsorship and it is with a heavy heart that we have to end our partnership in these circumstances.”
CONFIRMED: Cricket Australia has suspended Steve Smith and David Warner for 12 months following the ball tampering investigation.
Cameron Bancroft has been suspended for nine months.
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) 28 March 2018
Warner and Smith had already lost their captaincy for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals respectively before their punishment was announced, and the Indian Premier League had since confirmed both players would be banned “with immediate effect from participation” in the world’s most lucrative Twenty20 tournament this year.
