VIVO RETIRES from Indian Premier League; BCCI LOOKS FOR A REPLACEMENT

Vivo, a Chinese mobile manufacturer is going to temporarily step back from its title sponsorship of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) said On Tuesday that Vivo had decided to cancel the IPL’s title sponsorship for a year. Though Vivo declined to comment on the matter, Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI), officials said that they were seeking a one-year replacement for the brand since it could make its way back next year.

Vivo has made a contract with BCCI from 2018 to 2022 for Rs 2,200 crore and agreed to pay Rs 440 crore annually, but had backed from the deal due to the clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Ladakh.
T20 tournament will be held in the United Arab Emirates from September 19 and BCCI has to find a new sponsor in this short span of time. Firms such as Paytm, Swiggy, Dream11 and Byju’s, which are associated with the IPL, have Chinese investments. Byju’s is also associated with IPL franchises such as Kolkata Knight Riders.

According to Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT” all other contracts with Chinese companies for the cricket league should be reviewed following Vivo’s exit”. “We have been running a ‘Boycott China’ campaign since June. The pressure on Chinese brands was growing. Vivo’s exit is a result of this,” Khandelwal added.

BCCI is said to be in continuous dialogue with Vivo for an amicable exit from the 2020 edition and has not floated a new tender yet for its replacement. It is expected to do so in the coming days.

The Indian government has already banned 59 Chinese mobile applications after Chinese soldiers got in to fight with Indian soldiers alleging that the erection of a surveillance post by China on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Galwan has been broken by Indian Soldiers. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the clash, the biggest confrontation between the two militaries since 1967.