Kochi out of IPL, board likely to call for fresh bids
November 25th, 2010 - 5:56 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) With just two days left for the deadline to expire, the squabbling owners of Kochi’s Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Thursday wrote to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that they have failed to settle their ownership patterns and were, therefore, withdrawing from the league.
Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) secretary T.C. Matthew told IANS that the owners have informed the BCCI about their decision in a letter.
“I have been informed by some of the partners of the Kochi franchise that they have informed the BCCI about their decision to withdraw from the fourth season of the league. It is a very unfortunate incident for Kerala cricket,” said Matthew.
Despite getting a 30-day notice to settle their ownership pattern, the owners failed to sort out their internal problems. Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, Rosy Blue and Film Wave hold 74 percent of the equity while the Gaekwad brothers, who own Rendezvous Sports World, own the remaining 26 percent stake as free equity for services rendered in successfully bidding for the franchise.
The stakeholders, however, were in no mood to give 26 percent as free equity to the Gaekwad brothers, who did not want to part with it.
The consortium successfully bid for the Kochi franchise pledging a whopping $333 million.
With Kochi’s exit, Ahmedabad and Rajkot are the two likely cities to bid for a slot in the IPL. The IPL Governing Council has decided to go ahead and conduct auction for the eighth team by December 15.
“After the suspension of Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, the IPL couldn’t have afforded to lose a third team as it would have posed more problems,” a top official in the Governing Council told IANS.
The official said Ahmedabad and Rajkot are among the cities that would be interested in bidding for the eighth team.
“Ahmedabad and Rajkot will definitely take part in the auction,” said the official.
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Adani Industries have shown interest in Ahmedabad. Ambani lost in the first auction while the Adanis’ bid fell short of Pune and Kochi bids at the auction in Chennai.
- Kochi pulls out of IPL (Lead) - Nov 25, 2010
- Ahmedabad, Rajkot likely to replace Kochi in IPL - Nov 17, 2010
- IPL governing council decides in favour of Kochi (Lead) - Dec 05, 2010
- Kochi IPL gets 30 days to resolve its problems - Oct 27, 2010
- IPL: Kochi wants to shift to Ahmedabad - Aug 16, 2011
- Kochi IPL owner says no show cause notice received from BCCI - Oct 07, 2010
- Kochi franchise informs IPL GC about inability to resolve ownership dispute - Nov 25, 2010
- Kochi IPL sweating over sweat equity - Oct 19, 2010
- Decision on Kochi IPL team deferred till Dec 5 - Nov 28, 2010
- Rendezvous adamant on 25 percent stake in Kochi IPL team - Oct 27, 2010
- Kochi IPL franchise gets a month to sort out ownership differences - Oct 27, 2010
- BCCI-Kochi IPL deadlock continues - Oct 22, 2010
- In huge IPL shake-up, Rajasthan and Kings are axed (Roundup) - Oct 10, 2010
- Kochi IPL will make it: Kerala Cricket Association - Oct 10, 2010
- Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI terminated from IPL (Lead) - Oct 10, 2010
Tags: 333 million, ahmedabad, ambani, cricket association, eighth team, film wave, governing council, india bcci, kca, kerala, ownership patterns, premier league, punjab, rajasthan, rendezvous, rosy blue, royals, sports world, stakeholders, unfortunate incident