MUMBAI: The IPL Governing Council has ratified the issues it had discussed with Sahara as part of the compromise formula it had arrived at with the business conglomerate.

On the contentious issue of allowing five players for this season, the Council has asked Pune Warriors India to get the consent of all the franchises.

"On the five foreign players issue, Sahara has to get the consent of all other franchises and that matter will be put before the working committee, which will take the final call,? IPL GC chairman Rajeev Shukla said after the meeting.

He further added, "All the things which were decided with Sahara were ratified by the Governing Council.?

The dates for season 6 of the IPL has been finalised and the tournament will be held next year from 3 April to 26 May.

Queried on whether the IPL will have the 10th team in season 6, Shukla said ?nothing has been finalised?.

The BCCI had on 16 February reached a compromise formula with Sahara wherein it allowed the franchise to sign up overseas players who were not in the auction register and to play five foreign players in their side due to unavailability of Yuvraj Singh, subject to approval of the other franchises.

BCCI and Sahara had also agreed to start the arbitration proceedings initiated by Sahara through appointment of an arbitrator to address Sahara?s claim for a reduction in franchise fee.

MUMBAI: In a high-stakes battle, Sahara and India?s cricket board Thursday came out with a compromise formula that would protect their commercial interests over the country?s most lucrative sports property.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) keeps alive the four-year sponsorship contract for the national team, pegged at $115 million, through to December 2013. It also gets to lock the Pune IPL franchise for $370 million, a price that may be hard to get in the current market scenario.

Sahara India Pariwar, on its part, can expect to get a franchisee fee reduction through arbitration and draw in an extra foreign player as a replacement for the ailing Yuvraj Singh, the team?s star player.

"BCCI couldn?t have found a sponsor for the Indian team at that price. Even the IPL franchise would have gone for lower in case of a fresh bid. The other option would have been to go ahead with an eight-team format, a heavy financial loss. On both the sponsorship and the franchisee fronts, the board would have had to take a hit. For Sahara, exiting from the IPL would have meant writing off its initial investments. Besides, the sponsorship of the national cricket team gives the group brand a tremendous presence which they couldn?t have possibly got from other advertising vehicles," a media analyst said.

Sahara and BCCI agreed to bury their hatchet after a series of negotiations and hard talk, ending days of suspense and speculation. The IPL, which kicks off on 4 April, will, thus, see players from Pune Warriors India on the cricketing field.

Sahara has also consented to continue as the shirt sponsor of the India cricket team while at the same time keeping the exit door open by saying that it ?may want to exercise its right to assign the sponsorship as per the agreement?. Even if Sahara assigns the rights, BCCI would be protected the amount through the new sponsor.

As part of the settlement, the BCCI has agreed to extend the trading window till 29 February as against the original schedule of 17 February. The extended trading window will provide Pune Warriors India an opportunity to have successful negotiations with other franchises as it looks to strengthen its squad.

?To extend the trading window, which was due to close on Friday 17 February, until Wednesday 29 February 2012 to give Pune Warriors India the opportunity to have successful negotiations with other franchises as it looks to strengthen its squad,? Sahara chairman Subroto Roy and BCCI president N Srinivasan said in a joint statement issued along with Sahara.

The statement added, ?Sahara confirms that it will continue sponsorship of the Indian team. Sahara may want to exercise its right to assign the sponsorship as per the agreement. The franchise will also re-activate its auction purse so that it can take a number of players, subject to the squad composition regulations.?

The BCCI is also open to allowing Sahara to sign-up overseas players who were not in the auction register subject to the relevant player regulations and other franchises agreeing to the same thereby acceding to one of the key demand?s of the franchise which has been hit due to Yuvraj Singh?s absence.

?Notwithstanding the recent working committee decision rejecting 5 foreign players in the playing XI, in consideration of the exceptional circumstance and the non-availability of Mr. Yuvraj Singh, Sahara has offered to obtain the consent of all the franchises for the submission to the BCCI,? the statement averred.

BCCI and Sahara have also agreed to start the arbitration proceedings initiated by Sahara through appointment of an arbitrator to address Sahara?s claim for a reduction in franchise fee for 74 matches.

Sahara, which has committed $370 million for a period of 10 years, has been demanding a reduction in fee since the 94 matches that was promised during the signing of agreement has not been honoured as the matches have been decreased to 74 to accommodate ICC?s future tours programme.

Additionally, the BCCI does not have any problem with Sahara seeking a strategic partner in the Pune Warriors India franchise, subject to terms of the Franchise Agreement. Sahara has been for quite some time considering diluting stake to infuse capital.

The company?s request to furnish bank guarantee against the franchisee fee in two installments will also be considered by the BCCI at next available opportunity.

Furthermore, the BCCI has also acceded to Sahara?s request to hold one of the play-off matches in Pune, which was scheduled to be played in Bengaluru. The BCCI is in principle agreeable to host one of the Play Off in the new Pune stadium subject to the consent of RCB.

The right to host the Play Off matches is awarded to the finalists from previous edition, in this case Royal Challengers Bangalore. BCCI is in principle agreeable to host one of the Play Off in the new Pune stadium subject to the consent of RCB.

Meanwhile, welcoming BCCI?s gesture wherein most of the grievances of Sahara have been taken care off, the business conglomerate?s chairman Subroto Roy through a letter thanked the board and its members for helping in resolving the deadlock which began 4 February.

Besides thanking board members, Roy also acknowledged the role of former BCCI president Shashank Manohar and film star & KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan in helping to end the stalemate.

He also said that the cricket board will look into the request of having an open players auction wherein all the players will be put up for auction which will give level-playing field to all.

?Due to the policy of retention, a disparity in the player ability and corresponding payment structure is created. I genuinely appreciate BCCI, seeing their positive response and attitude, they have said that they would take up the issue seriously in the near future,? Roy asserted.

However, this may not be the end of it as much as one would like to believe, as one industry veteran points out. In fact, if anything it is the beginning of another round of hectic negotiations and back-room parleys between Sahara and other franchises with the BCCI playing the role of a ?facilitator? to bend its own rules.

And all it takes is just one franchise to say no to Sahara?s request and it will all be back to square one; the ball will again toss back to the BCCI?s court. In a nutshell, the BCCI has passed the buck to the franchises but it is most likely to come back to the board that is if it doesn?t pass through other franchises.

Asked if the reduction in franchise fee will cool down tempers, the industry observer was quick to add that there is a possibility of Kochi joining the fray and might as well take the BCCI to court, which will only add to IPL?s woes. However, the BCCI had terminated the franchisee contract with Kochi on the ground of late payment of fee.

Kochi Tuskers Kerala, whose franchise agreement was terminated last year, has already threatened BCCI with legal action if it is not reinstated and the reduction of Sahara?s franchise fee might end up giving more ammo to the beleaguered franchise.

Expect more drama and action in the coming days!

MUMBAI: India?s cricket board Monday stuck to its earlier position that it cannot make exceptions for Sahara India owned IPL team Pune Warriors India, thereby adding to the tension in the already acrimonious relationship which is heading towards a virtual split.

BCCI president N Srinivasan?s comment after emerging out of the board?s all-powerful Working Committee meeting in Chennai wherein he ruled out any possibility of allowing Pune to field six foreign players instead of the norm of four, a key demand of the franchise, made it apparent that the divorce between the two parties is all but final.

"Issues that had to be decided were placed before the committee and we have conveyed the response from the working committee to Sahara and we hope the response would be favourable," BCCI president N Srinivasan told reporters after the meeting.

While refusing to divulge the details of the issues that were discussed during the meeting, Srinivasan though added that the franchise can find a replacement for its injured player Yuvraj Singh, who is recovering from malignant lung tumour.

"It is a matter which should be discussed between Sahara and BCCI behind closed doors. These are not issues which can be discussed in public," he said.

"One of it was with regards to the number of matches played last year, issues surrounding the quantum of the bank guarantee that Sahara gave and, of course, what they have mentioned in public about the composition of their team in the context of non-availability of some players," Srinivasan added.

The BCCI has responded positively within the framework of its rules and the BCCI has also said that it is not possible to create an exception because observance of the regulations strictly is important to the integrity of the league, he explained.

Srinivasan also said the BCCI had no reservations in Sahara bringing Yuvraj?s replacement and also the company?s plan to offload stakes by roping in a strategic partner.

"I am told that as per the rules Sahara can have replacement for Yuvraj so that is not an issue,? he said, adding that "the BCCI will not have objection to Sahara having a strategic partnership.?

Making it clear that the BCCI was maintaining its stance, Srinivasan put the ball in Sahara?s court by saying, "The position is what it was. We have responded to what Sahara has raised. We will wait to see what the reaction is."

Srinivasan did not reveal BCCI?s stance on franchise reduction, also one of Sahara?s other key demand considering the fact that the number of IPL matches had been reduced from 94 to 74.

However, going by past precedence the BCCI is unlikely to go in for a fee reduction.

Sahara?s demand of doing away with the bank guarantee clause, which is applicable to only new franchises Pune and Kochi whose contract got terminated last year, would have found few takers coming as it is in the wake of BCCI suffering loss due to termination of agreement with Nimbus.

Meanwhile, Sahara has reacted sharply to BCCI?s tough posturing.

In a statement the company said, ?N Srinivasan tried to explain the limitations from the perspective of framework of rules with respect to the issues raised by Sahara. He asked Shri Sundar Raman (IPL CEO) to explain the issues with a perspective of the rules,? Sahara Group said in a statement.

?Shri Subrata Roy Sahara requested the BCCI officials not to elaborate on the rules by saying that any disagreement in sports should be taken in perfect sporting spirit and should be resolved accordingly. He further requested the BCCI president & his team that there is no point in quoting the rule book and debating it word by word. After all, they were BCCI?s own rules and not some constitutional rules of the Govt of India?.

The statement adds that the issue of players was discussed so as to ensure a level playing field. To ensure that, the need for an open Auction to be held in 2013 was also put forward.

?Since there is no same level Indian player left who can match up to the level of Shri Yuvraj Singh, we should be allowed one extra overseas player in the playing XI. We should realise that even this is also not enough to compensate for the loss of somebody of Shri Yuvraj?s caliber.

?Shri Subrata Roy also put across very firmly that if all teams are balanced, the tournament and all the matches will be very competitive and that viewers will enjoy the competition else the tournament will lose its charm. This is the precise reason why Sahara had insisted on an open auction last year after the induction of two new teams?.

The company also termed the bank guarantee clause as ?discriminatory? to the new teams (Pune and terminated Kochi team) since none of the eight original teams had to furnish bank guarantees.

?The fact that none of the earlier 8 teams who entered IPL in 2008, deposit any bank guarantee against franchise fee. Out of the remaining 9 teams in the League, only Sahara is required to deposit the bank guarantee against the franchise fee. Considering that Sahara has never defaulted in last 12 years in any payment that was due to BCCI, this is out and out discriminatory in nature.?

Sahara also reiterated that it will not discuss Team India sponsorship till outstanding issues relating to IPL are not resolved while asserting that it was committed to divert a part of its cricket sponsorship towards social activities.

?Accordingly, if issues related to IPL are solved, then we could also discuss the sponsorship of the Indian cricket Team though it was also put forward that we have to balance our announced Sports and Social Development programs by partly diverting finances committed from cricket into social activities.?

The final word on the most high profile commercial dispute in Indian cricket is yet to come out. Till then, expect both sides to continue their posturing in the coming days.

MUMBAI: Competition watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) is said to have found anti-trust law violations in the way India?s cricket board handed out media rights to World Sports Group and Multi Screen Media (Sony) for the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Reports state that CCI DG (investigations) concluded that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the
game?s governing body in India, had abused its dominant market position by allowing "single bidding" of media and television rights for IPL matches.

The DG pointed out that the BCCI has used it dominant position in the national cricket arena to influence the bidding procedure in the IPL, one of its own Twenty20 leagues.

MUMBAI: The impasse between the BCCI and Subroto Roy?s company Sahara walking out of the IPL and the Indian cricket team?s sponsorship continues.

After the Working Committee meeting, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N Srinivasan said Monday that the board is not ready to make an exception for Sahara?s demand that the money spent on an ailing Yuvraj Singh be part of the Pune Warriors? auction purse. However Sahara can get a replacement for Singh who is in the US undergoing treatment for cancer.

India?s cricket board has said that exceptions cannot be made for the company. Srinivasan clarified that the ball is now in Sahara?s court.

"The BCCI has responded positively within the framework of its rules but it is not possible to create an exception because observance of the regulations is important for the integrity of the league. The issues raised by Sahara were placed before the Working Committee today and we have communicated our response to Sahara. We hope that their response will be favourable. It is now up to them and we?ll wait to see what their reaction is," Srinivasan asserted.