Sachin Tendulkar settles lawsuit against bat manufacturers Spartan; Australian company apologises

Sachin Tendulkar has decided to settle his lawsuit against bat-maker Spartan in the Federal Court of Australia after the company apologised for "breach of contract".

In 2016, Tendulkar entered into a worldwide exclusive sponsorship agreement with Spartan to promote its sporting goods and sportswear.

File image of Sachin Tendulkar. Reuters

Tendulkar alleged that Spartan failed to comply with its obligations under the agreement by failing to pay him royalties and endorsement fees as per the agreement signed by both parties.

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"Spartan sincerely apologises to Tendulkar for its failure to honour his sponsorship agreement and is grateful for Tendulkar's patience in resolving this dispute," Les Galbraith, the COO of Spartan, stated in a joint press release.

Spartan had continued to use Tendulkar's name and image even after the termination of the agreement.

"Tendulkar provided his promotional services at various Spartan events in both Mumbai and London...he was unable to pursue other sponsorship opportunities for sporting goods and sportswear while the Spartan agreement was in place," the release stated.

Tendulkar, in the lawsuit against a number of Spartan companies and their directors, Kunal Sharma and Galbraith, alleged "breach of contract, misleading and deceptive conduct" and sought injunctions, damages as well as cancellation of trademarks..."

The joint statement also mentions that "as part of the settlement, a number of the Spartan companies have submitted to judgment against them and the Spartan group is permanently restrained by court orders from using Tendulkar's name, image and likeness including to falsely suggest any endorsement by Sachin Tendulkar."

"The Spartan companies also publicly acknowledged that Tendulkar has had no association with Spartan since September 17, 2018, when Mr. Tendulkar terminated their sponsorship agreement," the statement read.