Just as good news has set in after the IPL 2020 was confirmed to be happening in the UAE from September 19- November 10, BCCI received a huge jolt as VIVO, the Chinese smartphone giants, has decided to exit from as the title sponsors for this season.
VIVO had signed a five-year deal in 2017 worth over INR 2,000 Cr, decided to skip this year’s edition owing to rising negative sentiments towards Chinese brands and products after India-China border clashes in Galwan Valley.
VIVO has 3 years left in their contract which they will honor in 2021, 2022, and 2023 instead. Chinese mobile phone maker VIVO is IPL's title sponsor and it pays the BCCI Rs 440 crore annually for the 5-year deal ending in 2022.
IPL 2020: Franchises panic as BCCI in trouble with VIVO likely to exit as IPL title sponsor: Reports
This had left BCCI hunting for a new title sponsor just over a month before the 13th edition of the cash-rich T20 league is set to begin. The board had faced backlash for continuing with the Chinese smartphone company as sponsors.
Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), the Economic wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) raised voices against the Indian cricket board’s decision to continue its association with China-related companies.
Other companies involved in the IPL -- Paytm, Swiggy, Dream11 -- have Chinese investments. Not just the IPL, the teams too attract Chinese sponsorship.
The Indian government has already banned 59 Chinese mobile applications after the PLA personnel used stones, nail-studded sticks, iron rods, and clubs to carry out a brutal attack on Indian soldiers after they protested the erection of a surveillance post by China on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Galwan.
20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in the clash which was the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes.
(India Today inputs)
