Press Trust of India
New Delhi, August 3: The BCCI’s four-member working group, formed to study the Justice Lodha committee’s verdict relating to the IPL 2013 corruption scandal, met for the first time here Monday to discuss the way forward for the cash-rich league’s next edition and said the sponsors were fully behind the board.
The board has given the committee six weeks time to draw up a roadmap for the IPL after the Justice Lodha committee suspended the owners of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) Gurunath Maiyappan and Raj Kundra while banning the franchisees for two years last month.
“We have started meeting all the stakeholders from today (Monday). The representatives of Yes Bank came and met the members of the working group. Yes Bank is one of our sponsors. Similarly we will meet other sponsors and also speak to them about how to make IPL-IX a success,” IPL governing council (IPLGC) chairman Rajeev Shukla, who is also heading the working group, said.
After this round in Delhi, the working group will move to Mumbai. “In Mumbai we plan to meet at least four franchise owners. We have set the ball rolling. We have to discuss all the possibilities about new teams and future of players,” Shukla added.
Asked if the sponsors are wary because of the controversies surrounding the T20 tournament, he said, “Absolutely not. The sponsors are fully behind us. They are bullish about the future of the tournament.”
Asked if the CSK and RR will need to pay franchise fees during the two years that they are suspended, Shukla stated that they wouldn’t have to. “No, they don’t need to pay anything. Neither do they pay anything to us nor do we have to pay anything to them,” stated the IPLGC chairman
The working group comprises Shukla, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry and IPLGC member and former captain Sourav Ganguly. They will be assisted by Usha Nath Bannerjee, the board’s legal counsel. All of them were present in Monday’s meeting.”
Asked about the working group’s views on having two new teams for IPL, Shukla said, “We don’t have any views right now. Once we talk to all stakeholders, we would then put forward our viewpoint. Their suggestions will be considered extremely carefully.”
