News: IPL governing council “to review” Chinese sponsorship

Last week, the Indian Premier League (IPL) governing body’s top official said that Chinese smartphone manufacturers Vivo will continue to be major sponsors of the cash-rich tournament despite the calls to boycott Chinese product after the stand-off in the Galwan Valley. However, the governing council refute the statement and said that they will “review various IPL sponsorship deals” next week.

“Taking note of the border skirmish that resulted in the martyrdom of our brave jawans, the IPL Governing Council has convened a meeting next week to review IPL’s various sponsorship deals,” read a tweet through the IPL’s verified handle. The tournament has its title sponsor in Chinese smartphone manufacturers Vivo. VIVO bagged the IPL title rights in 2017 for a period of five years.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has changed its stand on Chinese sponsors shortly after BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal had said that the BCCI had no plans to revisit the IPL and BCCI sponsorship deals. Dhumal argued that “till the time a Chinese company is allowed to sell their product and make money from the Indian consumer, why should that money (sponsorship) be allowed to go out of India”.

The cash-rich Twenty20 competition, due to begin on March 29 and pushed back to April 15, was postponed indefinitely in April due to the ongoing threats of the coronavirus pandemic. According to reports, the BCCI has spoken to all the franchises, media partners and other stakeholders of IPL and came up as September 26 to November 8 as the window to host the lucrative cricket league.

At least four of BCCI’s major sponsors are related to China. Aside from IPL title sponsor VIVO, the mobile phone manufacturer, online fantasy game entity Dream11 — an associate sponsor of BCCI and IPL — has Chinese investment. Meawhile, e-learning platform Byju’s and Paytm — India’s team sponsor and the BCCI’s title sponsor for cricket in India respectively — are also funded by Chinese entities.

Previously, the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, in a letter to state associations and stakeholders, said that the governing body “is working on all possible options to ensure that we are able to stage the IPL this year, even if it means playing the tournament in empty stadiums”. He said that they are “optimistic” about the return of cricket as the governing “will shortly decide on the future course of action on this”.

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