Pune Warriors to play in IPL as BCCI and Sahara reach compromise

Mumbai: The BCCI and the Sahara Group on Thursday reached a compromise, paving the way for Pune Warriors’ participation in the fifth edition of the IPL. Sahara had severed ties with the Board and withdrawn the Team India sponsorship on 4th February. Sahara will return as a sponsor following the truce which brought an end to the 12-day stalemate.

In a joint statement, both the parties said that the agreement envisaged a reactivation of the auction purse for Pune Warriors and an extension of the trading window among other things. On the issue of replacement for marquee player Yuvraj Singh, who is undergoing treatment for cancer in United States, Sahara has offered to obtain the consent of all the franchises for fielding five foreign players for the IPL matches.

“The trading window, which was due to close on Friday 17 February, until Wednesday 29 February 2012 to give Pune Warriors India the opportunity to have successful negotiations with other franchises as it looks to strengthen its squad,” the joint statement said.

“Re-activation of the Auction Purse of Pune Warriors India so that it can take a number of players, subject to the squad composition regulations,” it added.

The BCCI and Sahara also agreed to start the arbitration proceedings initiated by Sahara through appointment of an arbitrator to address the corporate giant’s claims for a reduction in franchise fee for 74 matches.

Sahara also requested for one of the play-off matches scheduled to be played in Bengaluru to be played in Pune, and the BCCI said it was in principle agreeable to host one of the play-off in the new Pune stadium subject to the consent of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The right to host the Play Off matches is awarded to the finalists from previous edition, in this case Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Sahara has also requested to furnish the Bank Guarantee against the Franchisee fee in two installments and the BCCI has agreed to consider it at the next available opportunity.

“Notwithstanding the recent working committee decision rejecting 5 foreign players in the playing XI, in consideration of the exceptional circumstance and the non-availability of Yuvraj Singh, Sahara has offered to obtain the consent of all the franchises for the submission to the BCCI,” said the statement said.

Sahara had signed a renewed sponsorship agreement with the BCCI on July 1, 2010 till December 31, 2013 and was paying Rs. 3.34 crore per Test match, one-day international and Twenty20 International under the new terms. The deal is said to be worth Rs. 532 crore.

The BCCI could have lost close to Rs 2000 crore if no solution was found. However, the Board could have found another sponsor to neutralise the losses.