The Chennai Super Kings legal issue that the Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will deliberate during its October 24 meeting in Delhi is about the new ownership pattern, valuation and the transaction fee for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
As per the franchise agreements, five per cent of the transacted money in the event of a change in control should be paid to the BCCI. The board seems to be insisting on its entitlement while the CSK management is contending that there is no change in control per se.
“The CSK is owned partly by the India Cement shareholders (71per cent) and partly by the former cricketers. Mr Srinivasan has transferred his 29 per cent shares to former cricketers of Tamil Nadu. We have informed the BCCI that it is a rearrangement of ownership pattern and not total transfer of control,” said a CSK official.
But the BCCI seems to be looking at it differently. Its contention is that any change in the ownership pattern requires five per cent fee and it wants the money paid. The BCCI is understood to have sought legal opinion on this and the discussion/decision at the GC will pertain to this point.
The other point of contention is the valuation. CSK officials insist that there is also no change in value and but the BCCI might levy the five per cent fee as per the current valuation of the team. Obviously, the BCCI and CSK management differ on this.
The GC will be followed by a meeting of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) which is expected to give the go-ahead for the ground rules of the IPL. The franchises are divided over the policy of retention as well the value of the player purse for next year’s mega auction.
Consensus on this is expected to be hammered out during a meeting between the CoA and the team owners, which is expected to take place in the last week.
(Courtesy:Mumbai Mirror)