New Delhi, Aug 10 (UNI) The BCCI has received official permission from the Government of India to conduct IPL 2020 in the UAE, tournament chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed to Cricbuzz.
The franchises, who had been waiting for the official government go-ahead until Monday morning, will shortly meet with the BCCI office bearers where the board will discuss the Standard Operating Procedures as well as address any concerns franchises have before jetting off to UAE around August 21.
The green-lighting from the various wings of the central government - including the Ministry of Home and External Affairs - is a shot in the arm for the board, which is faced with several logistical and administrative hurdles to move the tournament out of India amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.
Among BCCI's 11th hour concerns is finding a replacement title sponsor after Vivo invoked the Force Majeure clause in their contract to withdraw from this season. Patel confirmed that the board had floated an Expression of Interest (EOI) and expressed optimism of finding a suitable replacement sponsor for this season.
It remains to be seen, however, if the new sponsor or a consortium of sponsors can match Vivo's valuation of Rs 440 crores per season, although the BCCI has sought to mitigate any losses by setting the base value of the bid at Rs 300 crores. Fifty percent of this winning-bid value will be split eight ways among the franchises as per the revised revenue sharing agreement.
"There is a lot of interest (in acquiring the IPL title rights), so let's see what we get," Patel told Cricbuzz.
MORE UNI NC 2059