The Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sashank Manohar said the brand IPL won't be affected due to the decision taken by board to terminate the franchise agreements of IPL teams Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals.
He also dismissed speculations that the BCCI has been unduly biased about terminating the contracts of the franchises, which allegedly share a close affinity with former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.
"The decisions were not take due to any person," Manohar told the reporters without taking Modi's name.
Manohar stated that decisions were taken unanimously after seeking legal opinion.
"The governing council today sought legal opinion and come to a conclusion that contract of Rajasthan franchise and also the Punjab franchise needs to be cancelled for the violation of the franchise agreement," Manohar said.
The BCCI president also informed the reporters that the Kochi franchise has been issued a notice and given 10 days of time to incorporate a company act to resolve the dispute or else their agreement will also be cancelled.
When Manohar was asked as to why Kochi was spared for termination, he answerd, "Kochi hasn't yet breached the agreement. There are some internal disputes. The decision to terminate the contract of Punjab and Rajasthan franchises were taken purely based on legal opinion we received and the breaches committed by this franchises."
Manohar also explained what exactly he meant by the breaches in agreement made by these franchises.
"As I have been telling all this while about the Rajasthan franchise. They had a different bidder during auctions. The agreement was entered in the name of a different company. The shareholding patterns were different and then the shares were transferred to different people without the permission of the governing council," he stated.
When asked that how they can terminate the contract when they have an agreement for 10 years, pat came the reply, "We have got the money for three editions. We haven't taken in any further money from any of the franchises."
He informed that there has been no decision taken about when the players' auction will be held this and neither was he in a position to clarify whether two more teams will be inducted.
When Manohar was informed by media persons that Rajasthan Royals top boss Raj Kundra was mulling legal option after this decision, he was unflustered saying, "That's his choice."
