BCCI ousts Pune Warriors from IPL

Five months after the spot-fixing scandal came to light, the Indian Premier League garnered more negative publicity with the ouster of Sahara Pune Warriors on Saturday. And as a result, the league is now back to being an eight-franchise affair.

The Sahara Group, which had purchased the Pune franchise for a record Rs 1,702 crore in 2010, refused to furnish the requisite franchise fee (one-tenth of the gross amount), thereby leaving the BCCI with no option but to terminate its contract.

At its working committee meeting in Chennai, N Srinivasan & Co decided to slap the franchise with a termination notice.  “Given Sahara’s continued position that it would not deliver the bank guarantee, the working committee unanimously determined to terminate the Sahara franchise agreement while taking whatever action was necessary to protect the BCCI position,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement.

The Sahara Group minced no words in its statement, “This is not the only time that BCCI has treated Pune Warriors India with disdain and in an unfair manner... As a promoter of sports, the insensitiveness towards our genuine concerns was very disheartening and this step, though known, is unfortunate.”

Sources said Sahara is unlikely to challenge the termination in court. Its shirt sponsorship deal (Team India) with the BCCI is up for renewal in December.