Thorny issues loom over Sahara, BCCI compromise

Even after a series of marathon meetings between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Sahara India, and an announced settlement, their dispute seems far from over.

According to the compromise formula, the responsibility is on Sahara to sort its demands through legal processes and seek approval of the other eight franchises in the Indian Premier League. For instance, BCCI has accepted Sahara’s demand for five foreign players in their team, but only if the other franchisees agree. “Now, they have the responsibility of convincing other franchises and even if they (latter) agree, it may face another hurdle on ratification at a special general body meeting, “ said a BCCI official.

Another point of contention is reduction of the franchisee fee where both parties are to agree on an independent arbitrator to address the claim. Sahara had asked for a 27 per cent rebate in franchisee fee, as the number of IPL matches was decreased to 76 from the 94 mentioned in the original contract. Sahara had paid a whopping Rs 1,700 crore for the Pune team, making it the costliest franchisee of the league.

If Sahara wins, BCCI will have a problem, for it may prompt all the other teams to ask for a similar reduction. If this happens, BCCI is likely to lose Rs 136 crore every year. At present, the eight teams combined pay it Rs 333 crore per year. A look at the BCCI’s 2011 annual report reveals its gross income to be Rs 805 crore last year, with total expenditure being Rs 782 crore, a surplus of just Rs 22.7 crore.

BCCI has also postponed the returning of Sahara’s bank guarantee for the IPL team, which could be another issue.

Last evening, the 12-day impasse ended after former BCCI head, Shashank Manohar, was asked to mediate. It was in his tenure that Sahara was added to the IPL fold, in 2010. As part of the compromise, the trading window deadline was extended from February 17 to February 29, the auction purse wad reactivated for the Pune Warriors team, a replacement for Yuvraj Singh (undergoing medical treatment) was permitted and Sahara allowed to find a strategic partner to offload stake in their franchise.