Sahara to continue to sponsor Team India, standoff with BCCI ends

The BCCI and the aggrieved Sahara Group today reached a compromise after a series of hectic negotiations over the past few days, paving the way for Pune Warriors' participation in the fifth edition of the IPL.

Sahara, which had severed ties with the Board and withdrawn the Team India sponsorship on February 4, will return as a sponsor following the truce which brought an end to the 12-day stalemate.

Both BCCI and Sahara issued a joint statement, giving details of the agreement which envisaged a reactivation of the auction purse for Pune Warriors and an extension of the trading window among other things.

Regarding the contentious issue of replacement for marquee player Yuvraj Singh, who is undergoing treatment for cancer in United States, Sahara has offered to obtain the consent of all the franchises for fielding five foreign players for the IPL matches.

"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," the joint statement said.

"Re-activation of the Auction Purse of Pune Warriors India so that it can take a number of players, subject to the squad composition regulations," it added.

The BCCI and Sahara also agreed to start the arbitration proceedings initiated by Sahara through appointment of an arbitrator to address the corporate giant's claims for a reduction in franchise fee for 74 matches.

The BCCI also did not have any issues with Sahara seeking a strategic partner in the Pune Warriors India franchise, subject to terms of the Franchise Agreement.

"In respect of their request to sign overseas players who were not included in the Auction Register, subject to the relevant player regulations, BCCI agrees to the request subject to the views of all other franchise," the joint statement, signed by BCCI President N Srinivasan and Sahara Group Chairman Subrata Roy, said.

Sahara also requested for one of the play-off matches scheduled to be played in Bengaluru to be played in Pune, and the BCCI said it was in principle agreeable to host one of the play-off in the new Pune stadium subject to the consent of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The right to host the Play Off matches is awarded to the finalists from previous edition, in this case Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Sahara has also requested to furnish the Bank Guarantee against the Franchisee fee in two installments and the BCCI has agreed to consider it at the next available opportunity.

"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 Yuvraj Singh, Sahara has offered to obtain the consent of all the franchises for the submission to the BCCI," said the statement said.

BCCI said in line with its normal practice, it will continue to engage with all franchises to find ways to enhance the competitiveness of the league and improve the fan experience.

"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," said the statement.

Sahara, sponsor of the Indian team for over 11 years, decided to part ways with the BCCI on February 4, complaining that the Board did not give due consideration to its genuine grievances with regards to players and number of matches in the IPL. The decision to severe all ties with BCCI was taken just hours before the IPL auction got underway in Bangalore.

The BCCI's Working Committee had met in Chennai on February 13 but had failed to resolve the standoff.

The Board's Working Committee rejected some demands of the long-time sponsor and refused to make exceptions for the company which will now have to decide its future in the IPL.

After over three hours of deliberation at its Working Committee meeting, the BCCI said it had communicated its decisions with regards to Sahara's demands to the company and was hoping for a favourable response.

The BCCI had also made it clear that while it could show some flexibility but it should not be expected to make exceptions for the corporate giant, which owns the costliest IPL team.

Sahara had signed a renewed sponsorship agreement with the BCCI on July 1, 2010 till December 31, 2013 and was paying Rs. 3.34 crore per Test match, one-day international and Twenty20 International under the new terms. The deal is said to be worth Rs. 532 crore.

The BCCI stands to lose close to Rs 2000 crore if no solution is found. However, the Board can find another sponsor to neutralise the losses.

The BCCI also did not have any issues with Sahara seeking a strategic partner in the Pune Warriors India franchise, subject to terms of the Franchise Agreement.

"In respect of their request to sign overseas players who were not included in the Auction Register, subject to the relevant player regulations, BCCI agrees to the request subject to the views of all other franchise," the joint statement, signed by BCCI President N Srinivasan and Sahara Group Chairman Subrata Roy, said.

Sahara also requested for one of the play-off matches scheduled to be played in Bengaluru to be played in Pune, and the BCCI said it was in principle agreeable to host one of the play-off in the new Pune stadium subject to the consent of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The right to host the Play Off matches is awarded to the finalists from previous edition, in this case Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Sahara has also requested to furnish the Bank Guarantee against the Franchisee fee in two installments and the BCCI has agreed to consider it at the next available opportunity.

"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 Yuvraj Singh, Sahara has offered to obtain the consent of all the franchises for the submission to the BCCI," said the statement said.

"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," said the statement.

Soon after the joint statement was issued, BCCI insisted that they have not bent rules and the matter has been resolved within the framework of rules and regulations.

"The matter has been resolved. We are happy. Whatever issues were there, have been addressed. Whatever was possible within the framework, has been achieved. We have not bent rules," IPL Chairman Rajiv Shukla said.

Sahara Group Chairman Subrata Roy, said an open auction without any player retention to make the cash-rich Twenty20 league more entertaining should be considered..

Roy said that doing away with player retention would lead to the teams being more balanced which he said would produce more thrilling matches.

"One request of ours is not included in the joint statement, but BCCI has definitely given us very positive assurance for looking into the matter seriously in the near future," Roy said in a statement..

"There should be perfect level playing field. We have strongly requested open auction without any kind of retention. Due to retention policy, a disparity in player ability and corresponding payment structure is created," he said.

Sahara, sponsor of the Indian team for over 11 years, decided to part ways with the BCCI on February 4, complaining that the Board did not give due consideration to its genuine grievances with regards to players and number of matches in the IPL. The decision to severe all ties with BCCI was taken just hours before the IPL auction got underway in Bangalore.

The BCCI's Working Committee had met in Chennai on February 13 but had failed to resolve the standoff.

The Board's Working Committee rejected some demands of the long-time sponsor and refused to make "exceptions" for the company.

After over three hours of deliberation at its Working Committee meeting, the BCCI said it had communicated its decisions with regards to Sahara's demands to the company and had hoped for a "favourable response".

Sahara had signed a renewed sponsorship agreement with the BCCI on July 1, 2010 till December 31, 2013 and was paying Rs3.34 crore per Test match, one-day international and Twenty20 International under the new terms. The deal is said to be worth Rs532 crore.

The BCCI could have lost close to Rs2000 crore if no solution was found. However, the Board could have found another sponsor to neutralise the losses.