MUMBAI: The officials of Royal Challengers Bangalore were Thursday summoned by the IPL Governing Council to explain when the franchise intends to pay the first installment of players salary and also asked the franchise to get a No Objection Certificate from players on the revised payment schedule.

"The IPL governing council today summoned the RCB officials to the governing council meeting to discuss on the players? payment issue. After discussions, the BCCI has asked RCB to get ?No Objection Certificate? from the cricketers on the revised payment schedule. The franchise has promised that they would produce the NOC in some time," a senior governing council member told newswire PTI.

None of the RCB players except Chris Gayle have received the first installment of their salary despite repeated reminders the players haven?t got any response from the franchise owners.

As per the tripartite contract signed between franchise, player and the BCCI, the players are due 15 per cent of their fee for the season by 1 April, 50 per cent by 1 May, 20 per cent after the Champions League T20 and 15 per cent by 1 December.

MUMBAI: Sahara India Pariwar, a major business conglomerate and the owner of IPL team Pune Warriors, has taken for an undisclosed amount the Lucknow franchise of the ?Hockey India League? (HIL), the franchise-based Hockey league started by Hockey India.

Hockey India, the official body of the sport in India, is launching its own franchise-based league to rival World Series Hockey which is co-promoted by Indian Hockey Federation and Harish Thawani?s Nimbus Sport.

Sahara India chairman Subrata Roy Sahara said, ?By taking up this franchise we are sure that fresh talent will be identified at city and regional level, who in turn will bring laurels to our beloved nation. We are also hopeful, that following our efforts to encourage Hockey, other corporate entities will also come forward to support this league which will eventually benefit the game and its exponents."

The HIL will initially comprise six teams who will play each other on home and away basis. The league is expected to debut in January next year with the International Hockey Federation giving it a one month window from 1-30 January to ensure the participation of top foreign players.

The HIL will have six city-based teams selected from a pool of 12 cities that have infrastructure and facilities to host a match.

The six teams can have a maximum of 24 players in their squad with six Indian and foreign marquee players each. HI has fixed the salary cap at Rs 30 million with players divided into four slabs selected through IPL style auction in September.

Hockey India Secretary General Narendra Batra said, ?I am grateful to ?Saharasri? and Sahara India Pariwar, for again coming forward in support of Hockey. The Group has always come forward and supported the sport of hockey at all times by providing it the much needed support.?

Apart from being sponsor to the Indian Hockey Team, Sahara India Pariwar had also joined hands with Federation Internationale De Hockey (FIH) in 2004, the World?s apex Body for Hockey, and became the fourth Global Partner of the Federation for a period of three years.

HI will work with its exclusive marketing partner Twenty First Century Media to launch the league. TCM is responsible for handling sponsorship, media rights and getting franchises on board for the league.

Earlier, Sahara had renewed its sponsorship deal with HI forking out Rs 400 million over a five-year period.

MUMBAI: The Elite Football League of India (EFLI) has retained Madison Street Capital, a provider of corporate finance and mergers and acquisition (M&A) advisory services, to raise capital and explore equity finance opportunities for it.

Ten Sports will telecast later all the 31 matches that the first season for the EFLI will have. The tournament has been preponed from November to 20 July in Sri Lanka.

Eight teams will take part, five of which are from India, two from Sri Lanka and one from Pakistan. They will compete in American-style football.

Madison Street Capital senior MD of the Capital Markets Group Barry Petersen said,?We are excited to be partnering with a highly experienced management team in media/entertainment who raised the initial equity and secured the global partnerships that will produce a successful first season launch. Given the demographics and the proven success of the IPL, Ten Sports and the WWE in India, the opportunity is substantial.?

EFLI director of operations Tausif Sheikh said that the company is not selling team franchises to corporates in the first year. "We want to take it to a stage where we establish value. People should feel that it is a good time to get involved. Once it airs on Ten Sports, people will come to know what it is all about. For the first year, we focussing on doing sponsorship deals for the teams. We are doing the event in Sri Lanka partly due to the monsoons. The players are ready to play and holding the event in November would not have made sense.

The tournament will be held next year in India. "We could hold it either just before the start of the IPL or just after," said Sheikh.

EFLI has support from high-profile sports and entertainment figures such as Kurt Warner, Mark Wahlberg, Mike Ditka, Michal Irvin, Brandon Chillar, and Ron Jaworski.

Coaches and players for the current eight-team league were selected from a field of 10,000 applicants, and were trained by US-based football coaches affiliated with EFLI.

EFLI will use the same model as the IPL, which recently received $2 billion for a 10-year broadcast contract, utilising a single stadium as the venue. The broadcast team is led by Sandy Grossman, the only television executive to direct 10 NFL Super Bowls.

The EFLI was established by the Elite Football Federation of India, the first sanctioned and recognised American football federation in India. The Federation acts as a pass-through entity for EFLI, distributing 15 per cent of its revenue to the Sports Ministry of India to help maintain its ongoing programs and facilities.