The Board of Committee for Cricket in India on Monday expressed concerns that nearly 100 tenders remained pending on the same day that saw the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee recommend former home secretary GK Pillai as an “observer” of the Indian cricket body.
The ongoing tug of war between the Lodha Committee and the BCCI has cast a pall over the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League, “From the media rights to Indian team’s shirt sponsor deal, every pending tender process has been delayed. It is only adding to the confusion in the BCCI ranks. Around 100 tenders are pending mostly pertaining to the Indian Premier League which is just four months away,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying, by PTI.
The apparel sponsor deal of the IPL comes to an end before the start of the IPL. The BCCI also expressed its concerns over the feasibility of the new sponsors doling out new material in time for the 2017 event, “The apparel contract with Nike comes to an end in March, 2017. Now whether it’s Nike or Adidas or Puma, any sports manufacturing company requires minimum six months to deliver consignments. These are some issues bothering the BCCI,” the source added.
The report filed by the Lodha panel secretary Gopal Sankaranarayanan to the Supreme Court, recommended GK Pillai to “guide the BCCI in its administration, particularly with reference to the award of contracts, transparency norms, audit, etc., for domestic, international and IPL cricket to be played hereafter”.