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NEW DELHI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The International Cricket Council (ICC) will meet India's cricket board next week to try to resolve a contracts row that could affect the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

"The meeting between ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which was on the cards, will be held on December 9 in Calcutta," BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said in a statement on Thursday. The ICC will be represented by Zimbabwe's Justice Ahmed Ebrahim, who is a member of the World Cup contracts committee and Dave Richardson, the world body's general manager.

Dalmiya and leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who will give the players' viewpoint, will represent India, the statement added.

The meeting will aim to find a solution to a dispute over the ICC's World Cup participation contract, chiefly its controversial player images and ambush marketing clauses.

ICC president Malcolm Gray played down the dispute with Indian players.

"It is a slight aggravation. I would not say it is of concern," he told reporters during a brief stopover in Karachi.

He is scheduled to travel to Pakistan's capital Islamabad for a series of meetings with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and diplomats from cricket-playing countries.

Player terms

The player terms, which will apply for all ICC events until 2007, were drawn up following a deal with the ruling body's marketing partner Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) worth $550 million.

Leading players from many test countries, particularly India where captain Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar command lucrative personal endorsements, are opposing them as they feel they damage their deals with companies seen to be in conflict with official World Cup sponsors.

The 12-team Champions Trophy in Colombo in September was preceded by a major row after players from several test countries refused to sign a similar contract. But most of them, barring India, eventually agreed to sign up.

The ICC settled the issue by relaxing some of the conditions to ensure the participation of leading Indian players.

Dalmiya said he had discussed the issue with Indian players on the eve of their departure for a test and one-day series in New Zealand.

The World Cup is scheduled for February-March next year.

The BCCI has yet to announce its preliminary squad of 30 players for next year's World Cup, although the ICC deadline was November 30.

Gray said all other countries had announced their provisional sides before the deadline, adding that India's delay in naming their team was no cause for concern.

"It is a preliminary squad so there is nothing actually vital about that. And there's nothing magic about the date," he said. "I would hope that the Indian squad will be announced in the next few days, just as everyone else has been able to do. There is no real reason why the Indians can't do it," Gray said.

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