Pune Warriors beat retreat from IPL

Dubai: Throwing the Indian Premier League (IPL) into further disarray, Sahara India, the owners of the Pune Warriors franchise, have pulled out of the tournament’s next edition. The withdrawal comes at a time when the image of the IPL has been tarnished by the spot-fixing scandal.

Sahara and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have been at loggerheads over certain financial aspects of the tournament for some time now. Three years ago, Sahara bought the franchise for a whopping $370 million (Dh1.35 billion), which was the highest price paid for any IPL team. The differences with BCCI began cropping up with Sahara seeking a reduction of franchise fees, arguing that when they purchased the franchise, there were 94 matches played in the IPL, but the schedule was later reduced to 74.

The BCCI refused to adhere to Sahara’s request. Sahara paid around 20 per cent of the year’s franchisee fee and told the BCCI that they would pay the remaining amount by May 19. They failed to pay the remaining amount and hence the IPL governing council decided to encash the franchise’s bank guarantee.

Pune Warriors, in a statement, said: “We got 64 matches only. We and the Kochi Team immediately protested and requested BCCI to reduce the bid price proportionately for a viable IPL proposition. Nothing was heard. We waited with confidence that such a sports body should have sportsmanship spirit. We continuously requested BCCI for arbitration from June 2011. But the BCCI is only concerned about money and not about the genuine interests of the franchisee.”

Pune Warriors finished eighth in the ongoing IPL season, winning only four out of their 16 matches.

However, Sahara, who are also the sponsors of the Indian national team, stated that they will continue their sponsorship of the national team until the end of December 2013, when their contract expires. This is the second time Sahara have pulled out of the IPL. They had quit during the 2012 auction and even withdrew their sponsorship of the Indian team. However, that dispute was promptly resolved.

The Sahara Group, in a detailed statement, said it was “disgusted” by the BCCI’s attitude. “We would not keep the T20 franchisee even if the entire franchisee fee is waved off. It is firm and final decision of Sahara to withdraw from the league. We now request the BCCI to not to approach us this time for any discussion, as they did in February 2012.”

The statement went on to say that the group had been tempted to withdraw its sponsorship of the Indian cricket team too, but had refrained from doing so in the interest of the players. “There is a very strong urge in us to withdraw from the Indian cricket team sponsorship from today only. But, interest of the players will suffer if we do so. We share an excellent relationship with the players and will not want such dedicated and good human beings who serve the country so committedly to get harmed financially due to the unsporting attitude of BCCI,” it said.