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A day after Pune Warriors announced its pullout
from the IPL, the BCCI has said it hasn't received any "direct
communication" from the franchise owner Sahara India regarding the
issue. The board also confirmed that it had cashed part of the
franchise's bank guarantee.
On Tuesday, Sahara had issued a press release
saying it was withdrawing from the IPL over financial differences with
the BCCI stemming from the valuation of the annual franchise fee it has
to pay. It appears it has not formally communicated that decision to the
board.
Sahara has repeatedly tried to get the board to revise its franchise
fees - $370m over 10 years, the highest in the IPL - and had to pay Rs
120 crore (around $21.6m) this year before the start of the season.
"Once the 3 April 2013 due date had passed, the Governing Council had
two letters sent to Sahara Adventure Sports Limited - one on 12 April
2013 and the second on 24 April 2013 - requesting settlement of the
overdue amount," the BCCI's release said. "No payment was made and no
response was received to the second letter and so, in order to protect
its interests, the BCCI was forced to encash the guarantee."
Sahara had also complained that the process of arbitration, which began soon after the franchise initially pulled out
in February 2012, wasn't progressing as the BCCI hadn't agreed on any
arbitrator. The BCCI, in turn, said it was Sahara which was stalling the
negotiations.
"The BCCI cannot be held responsible since every one of the eminent
retired judges suggested by the BCCI was not found acceptable by the
franchisee," the board said. "In order to break this impasse, a letter
was sent to Sahara Adventure Sports Limited, proposing that as the
claimant to the arbitration, it should approach the court to appoint an
arbitrator so that the process could move forward. Again, no response
was received to this suggestion."
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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