Kochi scrapped from IPL, threatens legal action against BCCI

Mumbai, Sept 19 (PTI) Cracking the whip for breach of
contractual terms, the BCCI on Monday terminated the contract
of IPL franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala, a move which has
prompted the controversial Kerala team to threaten legal
action against the Cricket Board.
The decision to terminate Kochi franchise was taken at
the BCCI's (Board of Control for Cricket in India) Annual
General Meeting here, thus abruptly ending the franchise's
association with the cash-rich league which will now be a
nine-team affair.
"Because of the irremediable breach committed by the
Kochi franchise, the BCCI has decided to encash the bank
guarantee in their possession and also terminate the
franchise," new BCCI President N Srinivasan told reporters
after the AGM.
Asked if the BCCI would reconsider its decision and give
the franchise a chance to return, Srinivasan bluntly rejected
such a suggestion.
"No, we have terminated the franchise because the breach
is not capable of being remedied," he clarified.
The consortium, which was mired in a bitter ownership
dispute since its very inception, defaulted on a Rs 156 crore
annual payment it was to make as bank guarantee despite
reported reminders from the IPL authorities.
Kochi Tuskers are in no mood to take the BCCI's decision
lying down and made it clear that they would take legal
recourse.
"The BCCI notice is wrong, (it was) prima facie. We will
take legal action against them after our legal team reviews
the case in a day or two. Maybe we have to move court," Kochi
Tusker Chairman Mukesh Patel told PTI.
"We have never defaulted. The BCCI will be paying us Rs
12-15 crore next month as a part of our central revenue,"
Patel added.
Patel was miffed that the BCCI did not cut down the
franchise fees despite reducing the number of matches in IPL 4
from 94 to 74 due to packed international calendar.
"The number of games in Tender Document was 94, they then
reduced it to 74 but did not reduce the franchise fees."
The franchise, which was bought for Rs 1,550 crore, was
supposed to make the yearly payment for the next 10 years.
Kochi's termination means the 10-team tournament would be
reduced to nine.
Srinivasan said any decision to conduct fresh auction
for a new franchise would be taken by the Rajiv Shukla-led IPL
Governing Council. Shukla was named as the new IPL chairman
today, succeeding Chirayu Amin.
Incidentally, the BCCI's working committee had last year
rejected demands from Kochi and the Pune Warriors for a
reduction in their franchisee fees.
The two new franchises, which made their debut this
year, had sought a 25 per cent waiver on the grounds that the
BCCI had stated in the bidding document that each team would
play 18 league matches in a season but the schedule was later
reduced to 14 matches per team.
Led by Mahela Jayawardene, Kochi has also been hitting
the headlines due to its owners' reported desire to shift the
team's base to Ahmedabad.
Kochi had faced the prospect of being axed even last year
when the BCCI had questioned its shareholding patterns but the
matter was later settled after agreement between various
owners.