Consortium of companies ineligible to stage IPL ceremony: BCCI

In a recent declaration, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has stated that no consortium of companies will be allowed to host the IPL ceremonies for the 2017 edition of the tournament. It was the Committee of Administrators (COA), appointed by the Supreme Court, that made the announcement recently.

The consortium, or group of companies, will simply not be allowed to even pitch for the opening ceremony. The COA also made the points regarding the payment patterns very clear in their recent release. Earlier, a set of FAQs was released by the BCCI that explained the detailed procedure for the interested parties for hosting the IPL ceremonies.

Incidentally, as many as 8 IPL opening ceremonies are being scheduled to take place this year. The 8 venues would be the 8 home venues of the participating franchises. In the RFP (Request for Proposal), one of the questions was pertaining to the same. It asked if a consortium could bid for the ceremony.

The BCCI had a firm negative stand on the same as the answer read, “No. A consortium of companies cannot submit proposal. A, company may, with written approval from BCCI, subcontract certain obligations to companies but the Interested Party (bidder) will remain primarily liable.”

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The board also remarked that the portable stage for the opening ceremonies will not be allowed to enter in the vicinity of the pitch and in the 30-yard playing circle. Another significant announcement regarding the same was about the new flexi payment structure. According to this, 30 percent needs to be paid in advance on submission of 30 per cent bank guarantee. Another 20 per cent has to be paid within the first 15 days of the initial payment made.

The next 25 per cent is expected to be paid in the first week before the opening ceremony and the remaining 25 per cent will be paid following the reconciliation of the accounts of the instituion with respect to the budget, the performance of the events and other final settlements costs. Any company with turnovers less than INR 15 crore were rejected by the BCCI.