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| Sahara, BCCI: No more getting back? |
As per the latest reports here and here, Sahara has withdrawn from the Indian Premier League (IPL) which has already been in much controversy for sometime now. If that was not enough, Sahara even plans pull out of the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team from the next year. The reason for the withdrawal is supposedly Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) not keeping its promise to arbitrate the disputes.
The matter of the dispute goes something like this: Sahara had bought "Pune Warriors" franchise for an amount of rupees 1702 crore for 10 years. However, dispute arose regarding the reduction of the franchise fee as initially there were 94 matches which was later reduced to 64 matches. According to the report, Sahara paid around 20 percent of the year franchisee fee, an amount of Rs 170 crore in January and was about to pay the remaining amount by May 19 but failed. The IPL governing council then decided to encash the bank guarantee.
Sahara claims that the BCCI not only turn a deaf ear to its pleadings for arbitration and reducing the franchise fee but also rejected appointment of several arbitrators . It did not recommend any instead. Allegedly, the appointment of a former Chief Justice of India was also rejected by BCCI after sitting over the request for several months.
The IPL has been hitting new lows with every passing day.
Sahara has rightfully withdrawn their team from the IPL, brainchild of the BCCI that has given a new definition to the word “Controversy". Sahara was previously also peeved by BCCI's failure to initiate arbitration proceedings to lower their franchise fee despite several reminders.
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