The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) on Monday took a stern view of the non-compliance and decided to go ahead with the suspension of Kochi Tuskers franchise for not paying the entire fees for ownership, despite a showcause notice served to its owners.
On the other hand Kochi Tuskers Director Mukesh Patel said We don't have any outstanding dues with the BCCI. The termination is illegal. We will take action against them after our legal team reviews the case in a day or two. We will take them to court.
Early on Monday, the BCCI expelled the Team Kochi for defaulting on an annual payment of 155.3 Cr. The Board also encashed its bank guarantee.
Chintan Vora, one of the owners of the franchise however told NDTV that he has not been informed of any suspension by the Board. I have no intimation of this. BCCI has not given us anything in writing. It's just hearsay and once it comes into writing it will be better he said adding that all payments have been cleared. We have paid the franchise fees and everything. Infact they have to give us one installment as per the system.
Kochi Tuskers was one of the two teams - Pune Warriors owned by the Sahara Group being the other - that made its debut in IPL 2010 but had a rather forgetful event on the field. The story has not been entirely different off the field either with a range of controversies shrouding the franchise ranging from ownership issues to representative state.
N Srinivasan, the newly elected president of the Board said because of the irremediable breach committed by the Kochi franchise, the BCCI have decided to encash the bank guarantee in their possession and also terminate the franchise.
Asked if a fresh auction will be undertaken for a new franchise, he said that any decision will be taken by the IPL governing council later. Srinivasan also said that there is no way the Kochi can come back into the IPL set up because the breach was irreversible.
Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements owns the IPL's Chennai franchise team, Chennai Super Kings.
