IPL team Kochi gets 30-day deadline
Published:Wednesday | October 27, 2010 | 1:00 PM
The Indian Premier League (IPL) could be reduced to seven teams in 2011 after the new Kochi franchise was told to fix an ownership row or be thrown out.
Shashank Manohar, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) says the board has given Kochi 30 days to sort out their problems.
Kochi team owner Satyajit Gaekwad says he was extremely grateful.
If the dispute is not settled, Kochi could join Rajasthan Royals and Kings Eleven Punjab on the sidelines next April.
That would leave the annual 20/20 cricket tournament, played between eight franchises for its first three editions, with just seven teams in 2011 when it had been expected to feature 10.
The Kochi franchise was bought by the little-known Rendezvous Sports World Limited for US$333 million at an auction in March to add two new teams to the existing field of eight. The other new franchise is based in Pune.
A dispute arose in Kochi when the various stakeholders in the franchise voiced their opposition over a 25 per cent free equity share for Rendezvous Sports.
Kochi team owner Satyajit Gaekwad says despite our problems, we have been given time and the onus is on us to settle our feud and go back to BCCI with respectability.