My Solution
Skimpy has an absolutely delicious post on the current situation in the World Cup (written before Woolmer's death) which only an MBA could have written. He writes about a solution from the point of view of the sponsors and broadcasters which, even though illegal and immoral, is definitely not implausible. It is very likely that such an exercise is indeed under way.
But I would like to propose a solution which is very much legal, and fits at least into my convenient borders of morality. This is an idea a friend of mine came up with and we fleshed it out a bit. If India loses, then India and Pakistan should play a long ODI series which clashes with the World Cup. While companies like Sony have rights to telecast the World Cup, surely they don't have an obligation. So Sony culd just broadcast these matches instead. What's more, they should be held such that they start during the afternoon in India, so that by the time the matches end, viewers will be too tired to stay up and watch World Cup matches.
But I would like to propose a solution which is very much legal, and fits at least into my convenient borders of morality. This is an idea a friend of mine came up with and we fleshed it out a bit. If India loses, then India and Pakistan should play a long ODI series which clashes with the World Cup. While companies like Sony have rights to telecast the World Cup, surely they don't have an obligation. So Sony culd just broadcast these matches instead. What's more, they should be held such that they start during the afternoon in India, so that by the time the matches end, viewers will be too tired to stay up and watch World Cup matches.
