Serious challenges being faced in the Accreditation Department at ICC CWC 2007 came to the fore today at some venues hosting matches, as the team sought to provide solutions for essential staff in need of accreditation.

These issues have been brought about, in the main, by the lateness of thousands of applications from a large number of stakeholders involved in the Event.

A clearly defined procedure was communicated to all LOCs and stakeholders and forms were initially distributed from July 2006. Notwithstanding a number of late appointments of sub-contractors, a far higher incidence of late applications than expected has been seen across the board – from grounds staff to security personnel and caterers to PA announcers.

“It would appear that despite our best efforts over the past two years, including a tailored accreditation education programme, briefing stakeholders in all host nations, many people did not appreciate the stringent requirements of a world event’s accreditation system,” stated Mandy Keegan, Accreditation Programme Manager.

“We have a very clear policy for accreditation to this event and everyone applying for accreditation must complete a registration and receive authorisation from a senior representative before being submitted for security screening. This process is not one that can be turned around in a matter of minutes, hence the setting of such early deadlines to accommodate these security requirements.”

Security screening is being undertaken by the police forces across the region which involve thorough background checks - these can take up to five days, but this process is being expedited to accommodate late accreditation requests.

The high number of ‘essential operational’ staff, who had not applied in time for accreditation, were issued with temporary accreditation passes at today’s Warm-up match at Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium in Jamaica. These passes will be replaced with full passes once the screening formalities have been completed.

Accreditation in Trinidad &Tobago has gone very smoothly with reports in the Trinidad Guardian newpaper advising that: "The local and international media has been turning out to collect their accreditation and the service at the media accreditation centre has been excellent. In just a matter of about five minutes you are in there and out with everything that you need to do your work.”

NOTE: Rushmans has been responsible for the implementation of successful Accreditation systems at the last two ICC Cricket World Cups.