IPL chucks out Kings XI, Royals

The Indian Premier League's governing council on Sunday terminated the franchise agreements of two teams, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, both under the scanner for dubious ownership pattern and for breaching ownership rules.

The decision, which came after an emergency meeting of the governing council, reduced the IPL to eight teams, including the newly inducted Pune (Sahara Pune Warriors) and Kochi franchises.

The Kochi franchise, Rendezvous Sports World (Unincorporated Joint Venture), which is in the news for the power struggle among its stake holders, has been given 10 more days to get their house in order.

The decision, it is learnt, is to go ahead with eight teams this season. If Kochi is not able to get its act together, there will be a fresh bid for the eighth team. "No decision has been taken about when the players' auction will be held. Neither are we in a position to clarify whether two more teams will be inducted," said BCCI President Shashank Manohar.

When asked about the Rajasthan Royals after the meeting, Manohar said: "They had different bidders during auctions. The agreement was entered in the name of a different company. The share-holding patterns were different and then the shares were transferred to different people without the permission of the governing council."

Incidentally, the reason for Kings XI Punjab's termination, too, is the same.

As per the franchise clause agreement, a change of control of ownership can take place only with the prior consent of the BCCI-IPL. Following legal advice, the governing council came to the conclusion that the ownership pattern of both Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals had violated this clause.

The show-cause notice issued to the two franchise on October 1 explains where Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals erred. In January, 2008, Emerging Media (IPL) Limited represented by Manoj Badale won the right for the Jaipur franchise. But earlier this year, when the share-holding pattern of the franchise was investigated, it was found that neither Badale nor Emerging Media had any shares in it.

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