BCCI unlikely to roll back slashed play-off fund | Getty
Within a week after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to curtail the play-off prize money in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the owners of all eight franchises have written a letter, asking the board to reconsider the move.
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However, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel in an interview with Hindustan Times said that the slashed play-off fund is unlikely to be rolled back.
“The franchises’ views will be put up before the IPL Governing Council that will meet soon. Then we will decide. But it’s unlikely that we can have any change,” Patel quoted.
The BCCI had sent an email to the franchises stating that the four teams to qualify for the play-offs in the upcoming season would share Rs 25 crore instead of Rs 50 crore.
This prize fund has been halved by the cricket board, which has argued that the franchises are now self-sufficient.
“This fund was in place because the franchisees told us in 2013 that they were not making money in IPL. Now they are doing well. It’s just loss in profits (for them),” Patel said.
In the letter to BCCI, the franchises call the fund “a strong incentive for teams to continually improve the performance”. It adds: “We collectively believe rewinding that will be a step backward in the progress of the IPL.”
The other point of disagreement lies with BCCI’s decision to the venue staging fee for franchises from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, payable to the associations that host the matches.
“The associations bring about no improvement in stadium facilities and want more money,” a franchise official told Hindustan Times.
BCCI though is not looking to reconsider this move either.
“It’s not just decided that the franchises have to pay the associations more, even BCCI is paying them more. The state unit’s expenses too have gone up,” Patel said.
However, some franchises are optimistic as they are united in their motive and feel some among the BCCI top brass could be considerate.
“It’s important for BCCI to respect the franchises as stakeholders and give them their due. We will be watching BCCI’s response closely,” a top franchise official said.
(Inputs from Hindustan Times)
