“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020,” the BCCI has officially announced in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
Meaning, Vivo will not be the title sponsor of the IPL this year, but in all likelihood will be back in 2021 to continue their five year contract that started in 2018.
The BCCI’s announcement comes after the IPL Governing Council had on Sunday decided to retain the Chinese company as the title sponsor. The move, however, had seen a lot of backlash and there were even trends on social media about boycotting the league and the BCCI felt that it was in national interest to suspend the sponsorship deal as fan sentiments are a priority for the board.
On Tuesday there had been reports that Vivo had pulled out of the deal though and official word has come only now from the Indian cricket board.
Earlier on Monday, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which is spearheading a movement for boycott of Chinese goods, also criticised BCCI's decision to retain VIVO, the Chinese company, as IPL's title sponsor.
"We have sent a communication to Amit Shah and S. Jaishankar, demanding not to give approval to the BCCI for holding the IPL in Dubai," the CAIT said.
BCCI to Invite New Bids
Vivo was paying the BCCI Rs 439.8 crore a season in their five-year title sponsorship deal and now with the Chinese band out of the picture this year, the BCCI will scramble to find a replacement.
For this, the board will now be inviting bids through a tender process in the next few days. Under the Invitation to Bid (ITB), the winning bidder will be granted title sponsorship rights for this year's IPL season set to be played in the UAE from September 19 to November 10.
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