The CVC Capital Partners, the company which claimed the rights for Ahmedabad franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has reportedly put in a spot of bother due to its connection with overseas bidding companies.
While the Ahmedabad team was bought by CVC Capitals for ₹5,625 crore, the Lucknow franchise was secured by RP Sanjiv Goenka Group for a whopping ₹7,090 crore.
As per the past press statements issued by CVC Capital Partners, it has held a majority stake in Tipico of Malta since 2016. It also had claimed a controlling stake in Sky Betting and Gaming of the United Kingdom (UK) since 2014. None of these entities have business operations in India, where betting is illegal.
“The formalities haven’t yet been completed, the BCCI legal team is going through it and we are expecting them to revert us post-Diwali. The BCCI has full rights on whom they will allot the team, it’s the board’s discretion and we can only decide on a new IPL franchise (CVC) when the legal team reverts to us,” Indian Express quoted a source from BCCI as saying.
CVC Capitals has been associated with Formula 1, football and rugby.
While the acquisition of an IPL franchise is CVC's first investment in Indian cricket, it has held stakes in Formula 1 racing, football and rugby.
While RPSG (Lucknow) and CVC Capital Partners (Ahmedabad) made the highest bids in Monday’s auction, the third highest bid was made by Adani Sportline Pvt Ltd to the tune of ₹5,100 crores. If the BCCI decides to cancel CVC's claims, the Adani Group will possibly be the front-runner for the acquisition of the IPL franchise.
The BCCI on Monday announced the addition of two new teams to the 2022 Indian Premier League, saying that the next edition of the lucrative T20 tournament will feature 74 matches. Each side is scheduled to play 7 home and as many away fixtures.
"The new franchises will participate in IPL from 2022 season onwards subject to the bidders completing the post-bid formalities as specified in the ITT document. The IPL 2022 season will comprise ten teams and will have 74 matches, wherein each team will play 7 home and 7 away matches," the BCCI said in a release.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had also welcomed the two new outfits by saying, "The BCCI is happy to welcome two new teams from the next season of the Indian Premier League. I would like to congratulate RPSG Ventures Ltd. & Irelia Company Pte Ltd for being the successful bidders. The IPL will now go to two new cities in India viz in Lucknow and Ahmedabad."
