Royal Challengers Bangalore name their new chairman

Royal Challengers Bangalore faced a dilemma after their chairman of Royal Challengers Sports Pvt.Ltd Vijay Mallya officially stepped down from his post. Mallya has been declared a defaulter on bank loans and has left India to stay in his UK home.

The RCB formally announced the appointment of Amrit Thomas as their new chairman. Thomas will be the new point of contact between the BCCI and the RCB franchise. The Royal Challengers Bangalore Sports Pvt Ltd is a sports subsidiary owned by the United Spirits, a part of UK-based firm Diageo Plc. Amrit Thomas is the president and chief marketing officer of the United Spirits firm, the owner of RCB.

Mallya has been declared defaulter of over INR 9,000 crores of bad loans. All of his businesses, especially the Kingfisher airlines have collapsed and all of the employees have not been paid for the last year or so. He also had to step down from the director’s and chairman’s post of United Spirits.

Vijay Mallya had brought the Bangalore franchise for $111.6 million in the 2008 franchise auction and attended the matches as the chief mentor of the side. Despite being a side with immense talent and some really big stars in their line-up, the franchise has been unable to win any titles so far.

“I have been passionate about this team since inception and am determined to do whatever I can to win the IPL trophy. I am glad that my son, Siddharth, will remain as a director [of Royal Challengers Bangalore] as he is equally passionate about RCB,” Mallya said in a press conference.

The RCSPL had sent an official intimidation to the BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur and the chairman of the IPL governing council Rajiv Shukla, which said, “Dr Mallya will have the honorary title of chief mentor for as long as his son Siddharth Mallya remains on the RCSPL board. This is the limited role which enables the various members of the RCSPL board should they wish to consult him. In light of the above, this letter is to confirm to you that following this change, Dr Mallya has no longer authority to represent or bind RCSPL or RCB team and its operations. Dr Mallya’s resignation has not resulted in any change of ownership or control of RCSPL or USL, or any transfer of any part of the business of RCSPL.”