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India has refused to change its stance on the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) and will not allow Indian players to take part in the T20 tournament. Losing the Indian TV market comes as a massive blow to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), who are still unable to sell the tournament to an international broadcaster.
The secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) N. Srinivasan informed SLC officials of the decision over the phone on Thursday.
“It is their decision and we cannot force them to change their position,” sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told the Indian newspaper Daily News & Analysis today.
“We knew that India was not going to change its stand. That was the reason why we did not go to India,” he added, explaining why SLC chairman Somachandra de Silva and secretary Nishantha Ranatunga called off their trip to India on Wednesday to meet with BCCI officials.
“We made an attempt to convince them, but the BCCI told us that it cannot reverse its stand. They seem to have some apprehensions over the tournament.”
The financially struggling SLC had hoped the SLPL would be as gainful as the Indian Premier League (IPL), but losing Indian players and with it Indian TV audiences has dashed those hopes. Cricket-crazy India's large TV market brings in much of the advertising revenue, making the Indian team and its players highly sought after.
In addition, the Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment Ventures (SEV) and SLC have failed to secure a broadcaster, with only weeks left before the start of tournament.
“A lot depended on the Indian participation. Now that the Indians are not coming, we will try to sign a deal with a broadcaster internally in our country,” sports minister Aluthgamage added.
India’s refusal is entirely as a result of SEV’s involvement in the competition. According to Indian media reports, the BCCI was unhappy that SLC had entrusted the issuing and signing of player contracts to SEV – a company launched only last year and, according to news reports, has links to the former IPL boss Lalit Modi, who now faces criminal charges in India.
“Let's clarify that we are only the marketing partners of SLC and this tournament is owned, hosted and played by the Sri Lankan board as an official tournament,” SEV’s chairman Sandeep Bhammer told Gulf News recently.
It is unclear at this time what SEV’s actual role in the tournament is, given the recent claims that they have also been in charge of signing overseas players for the SLPL, which is not generally considered a responsibility of a marketing partner. But what is clear is that the BCCI does not believe SEV are merely marketing partners.
“In the IPL the players are contracted by the BCCI, but the SLPL is offering contracts with the event management company [SEV],” a BCCI official told reporters last week.
“So, if there is any goof-up, Sri Lanka Cricket [SLC] cannot be held accountable. As a result, the board [BCCI] would not like to take any chances.”
The inaugural SLPL tournament is scheduled to get underway on July 19th.
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