CTI writes to BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, demand the end of partnerships with Chinese firms

Chinese phone manufacturer VIVO is the title sponsor of IPL.

The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) has written a strong-worded letter to BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and has demanded that the board ends its partnership with Chinese companies after the Galwan valley skirmish resulted in China’s PLA killing 20 Indian soldiers.

In the letter, CTI convenor Brijesh Goyal has also written that if BCCI does not end the deal with the Chinese firms then traders from across the nation will boycott the Indian Premier League (IPL) and all other international matches at home.

Earlier this week, fans had called for BCCI to remove Chinese phone manufacturer VIVO as the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League. On Friday, IPL's Governing Council announced that they have convened a meeting next week to review IPL’s various sponsorship deals in the wake of the India-China border skirmish.

"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," stated IPL.

Earlier, BCCI had said that if there is a uniform directive from the government putting a blanket ban on Chinese products and sponsors, then only it will be able to get rid of Vivo as the title sponsor of the IPL.

In December last year, Vivo retained the title sponsorship rights for the IPL for a whopping Rs 2,199 crore over a period of five years.

Apart from Vivo, PayTm is also one of the sponsors. The company has a Chinese firm Alibaba as one of its investors.

(India Today inputs)