Kochi Franchisee Terminated from IPL Over Breach of Payment

In a stunning decision, the BCCI did not just serve a suspension note but went ahead and terminated their IPL’s troubled association with the Kochi franchisee after only one season.

Kochi Tuskers Kerala

The BCCI Annual General Meeting saw more drama than was expected. While N. Srinivasan took over Shashank Manohar as the BCCI President, his first order of business was cutting off BCCI’s ties with the one franchisee that no one seemed to get along from the start.

Whether it was the lingering effect of the then IPL chairman and commissioner, Lalit Modi, and the Shashi Taroor battle that cost the Kochi franchisee a realistic chance as the rest of the nine IPL franchisees remains speculative.

What the new BCCI President made clear in his first press conference since taking up the position was to state categorically that the doors had been shut on the Kochi franchisee bought by Rendezvous Sports. While earlier there was concern that the Kochi team was suspended over financial dues, N. Srinivasan, who himself has a stake in the Chennai Super Kings, made it clear that there was no comeback for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the IPL 2012 season but rather the franchisee stood terminated.

The bone of contention between the two new franchisees and the BCCI had been the fact that the two franchisees had been bid for huge sums of money that outbid the first eight teams. Under the premise that the IPL would extend to ninety-four matches, Sahara who own the Pune Warriors India and Rendezvous got into a spat with the BCCI over the final amount to be paid because the matches for IPL 4 had been reduced to seventy-four as against the promised ninety-four. Having initially withholding the payments, the matter was understood to have been resolved after it was claimed that both the new franchisees had paid their dues but in protest over failed promises.

However, the BCCI has now claimed that Kochi had defaulted on their payment which is basically to say that Kochi were apparently not keen to keep up their end of the bargain if the BCCI did not go through with the matches. The BCCI meanwhile has encashed the bank guarantee of the IPL franchisee and have not only served the Kochi team a warning but terminated them altogether over what the BCCI has termed as breach of contract. The BCCI has vindicated their decision on the stance that the Kochi was unable to come up with the financial requirements agreed upon and therefore, stands in violation. Such has been the BCCI’s stance on the issue that the new BCCI president has stated that there is no way the Kochi can come back into the IPL set up because in his own words, the breach was irreversible.

This now implies that there are nine teams standing in the IPL, two of which have fought their way through a stay through court intervention, with Kochi having now been officially axed. Kochi has only played the IPL 4 season and the results were nothing to boast about. For the trouble riddled Kochi team, the BCCI’s termination appears more than a matter of money. The BCCI though have deemed themselves the final authority on the subject which has meant no room for Kochi on the IPL bandwagon.