BCCI rejects Sahara's demand for fielding 6 foreign players

The working committee of the BCCI is learnt to have unanimously rejected Sahara Group's primary demand of allowing their franchise Pune Warriors to field six foreign players for the next edition of Indian Premier League (IPL).

"The president apprised the Working Committee about Sahara's demands - one of the primary issue being allowed six foreign players for the next edition. The entire working committee was unanimous in its opinion that this demand is unacceptable and hence it was turned down," a senior BCCI official preferring anonymity, told PTI on Monday.

Elaborating on the issue, the official said, "The demand was certainly illogical as members felt that it would aggrieve the eight other franchises. The members felt that in order to meet one aggrieved party's demand, you can't irk eight other stakeholders in the BCCI property."

The other issue was BCCI returning a part of the bank guarantee after the number of matches was reduced from 94 to 74. The parent body also found the proposal "unacceptable."

However the other two demands were found to be "acceptable" by the members.

"Obviously, they are entitled to get Yuvraj Singh's replacement and there was never any doubt about it. Even the president has made it clear."

"Secondly, they wanted to have a strategic partner and BCCI saw no reason why they can't have one. But what the committee understood is that their demand of six foreign players is non-negotiable. The committee has also made its stand clear," the official further stated. (Read Sahara's official response here)

The Sahara group has said that the company ended up paying more to IPL even though the number of matches were reduced.

"Shri Roy said that considering the reduced number of matches that actually took place against the earlier representation of BCCI before tendering for the new Franchise, we have ended up bidding 27 per cent extra if we go by the revenues that we would have accrued from media rights, gate receipts, sponsorship revenue etc. There has to be a reduction in the Franchise Fee as per the above," the company said.

"There is a possibility of Sahara seeking strategic partners for its Franchise, though this is already factored in the contract for every team. But as Sahara has already announced nationwide Social Development programs worth Rs 1000 crore, it may go for a strategic partner," it added.

The Sahara Group said it did not agree with BCCI's constant refrain of going by the rulebook.

"Shri Subrata Roy Sahara requested the BCCI officials not to elaborate on the rules by saying that any disagreement in sports should be taken in perfect sporting spirit and should be resolved accordingly."

"He further requested the BCCI President and his team that there is no point in quoting the rule book and debating it word by word. After all, they were BCCI's own rules and not some constitutional rules of the Govt of India," the company said.

"Shri Roy also put forward the point that Sahara has already announced and committed itself to Rs 1000 crore worth Sports & Social Development Programs and it is not possible for Sahara to go back on its commitment."