KEY POINTS:
Britain's team Origin said yesterday their status as an official challenger in the 33rd America's Cup is in doubt after the postponement of the regatta originally scheduled for 2009 in Spain.
AC Management, the organising body of the 33rd America's Cup, gave no new date for the event when it announced on Thursday that the race would be postponed because of a legal dispute between Swiss defenders Alinghi and United States team Oracle.
In July San Francisco-based Oracle filed a lawsuit in a New York court accusing Alinghi of choosing an illegitimate team, Desafio Espanol, as its "challenger of record" and of setting rules for the next Cup which are unfairly weighted in the Swiss defender's favour.
If the court rules in Oracle's favour, Alinghi says it is willing to accept a race using catamarans as proposed by the US team, in accordance with the "deed of the gift", the document which founded the event more than 150 years ago.
The British team said that in this case "the validity of the current protocol will cease and the status of Team Origin as a challenger for the 33rd America's Cup will also end".
Team Origin, launched by British businessman Sir Keith Mills in January this year using his own money, "will have to calculate the implications for the event and make its plans accordingly".
Mills, who helped London win the 2012 Olympics, blamed Oracle's "greed" and Alinghi's "belligerent spirit" for the failure of both sides to settle their dispute.
"For one team to seek to impose its will on a sporting event by using a lawsuit is reprehensible. For another team to slow the process down is equally damning," he said.
Team Origin tried in vain over the past few weeks to convince Oracle and Alinghi to reach a compromise that would allow the race to go ahead as scheduled in 2009 in Spain's eastern port of Valencia.
Talks between Alinghi and Oracle aimed at reaching an out-of-court settlement broke down on Friday, after the Swiss side rejected a final compromise put forward by the US team which was backed by three of the seven challengers, including Team Origin.
One of the six other official challengers, Emirates Team Zealand, meanwhile said it had anticipated that the standoff could lead to a postponement of the 33rd America's Cup and had taken steps to ensure the team's viability.
"Emirates Team New Zealand is in the fortunate position of having strong support from sponsors and the goodwill of team members all of whom want to remain involved," said managing director Grant Dalton.
Alinghi, which represents Societe Nautique de Geneve, beat Team New Zealand 5-2 to win the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia in July, and with it the right to run their defence when and as they wish.
- AP
