BCCI President Assures That Vivo's Suspension Of IPL Sponsorship Deal Is "Only A Blip"

Ahead of the 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the BCCI copped a big blow as their sponsors VIVO faced suspension. The BCCI and VIVO decided to call off their partnership for this year’s extravaganza, commencing on the 19th of September. It arrived on the wake of India-China border dispute; however, Sourav Ganguly has brushed aside any worries of monetary crisis.

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The title sponsorship forms a significant partnership of the IPL’s commercial revenue, half of which is shared equally by the eight franchises. VIVO bagged the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a massive amount of INR 2190 crores, which amounts to 440 crores per annum. The suspension of the deal means that BCCI has to find fresh sponsors ahead of the marquee tournament.

According to BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, it is nowhere near to a financial crunch and it’s only a tiny blip. The former Indian captain underlined that BCCI has laid a strong foundation for itself that it can handle financial troubles successfully. He further claimed that the association always has a plan B for such unforeseen circumstances.

“I wouldn’t call it as a financial crisis. It’s just a little bit of a blip. BCCI, it’s a very a strong foundation – the game, the players, the administrators in the past have made this game so strong that BCCI is able to handle all these blips. You keep your other options open. It is like Plan A and Plan B. Sensible people do it. Sensible brands do it. Sensible corporates do it,” the 45-year old stated as quoted by Hindustan Times.

“Big things don’t come overnight” : BCCI’s top boss

Sourav Ganguly went on to claim that the only way one can sustain financially for long periods is to keep building themselves. Ganguly believes that huge things take time to happen and go and the only way one could get over those is by staying prepared.

“And the only way you can do it is by being professionally strong over a period of time. Big things don’t come overnight. And big things don’t go away overnight. Your preparation for a long period of time gets (you) ready for losses, gets you ready for successes,” he added.

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