Champions League to be held in India
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
The BCCI-backed Champions League Twenty20 tournament will be played this year in India but may not feature a team from England, Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, has told the news agency. Modi's statement comes on a day the English press reported that the ECB, which has been at loggerheads with the BCCI over issues regarding an international Twenty20 tournament, was finalising a "rival" Champions League, to be held in Abu Dhabi, reports Cricinfo.
The one organised by the Indian board, Modi said, will be held from September 29 to October 8 at three venues - Jaipur, New Delhi and Mohali. The tournament, details of which will be finalised in Mumbai Wednesday at a meeting to be attended by officials from the BCCI, Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA), has received "four separate offers of US$750 million each" for the commercial and TV rights for a 10-year period, Modi said.
The ECB will not be represented at the meeting and, Modi said, the tournament is also unlikely to include England, which "has been unreasonable" in continuing to object to various rules and regulations, including the ban on players from the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL), the share-holding pattern and profit-sharing formula.
The one organised by the Indian board, Modi said, will be held from September 29 to October 8 at three venues - Jaipur, New Delhi and Mohali. The tournament, details of which will be finalised in Mumbai Wednesday at a meeting to be attended by officials from the BCCI, Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA), has received "four separate offers of US$750 million each" for the commercial and TV rights for a 10-year period, Modi said.
The ECB will not be represented at the meeting and, Modi said, the tournament is also unlikely to include England, which "has been unreasonable" in continuing to object to various rules and regulations, including the ban on players from the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL), the share-holding pattern and profit-sharing formula.