Naming rights tussle: Sahara stadium to go by ‘MCA’ name

The controversy over the ‘official name’ of the erstwhile Subrata Roy Sahara stadium took a new turn as Maharashtra Cricket Association president Ajay Shirke said that the stadium would henceforth be known as the MCA stadium.

The stadium’s naming rights,earlier,had reportedly been sold to the Sahara India Pariwar for a sum upwards of 200 crore. “The matter (the name of the stadium) is sub-judice. However,there was six-week time-frame set by both parties for an amicable resolution to the problem. This time-frame was later extended but a resolution to the problem was not found and a resolution is not in sight. We will refer to the stadium henceforth as the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) stadium.” said Shirke.

Sahara and the MCA had an earlier run-in when the MCA covered up the stadium nameplate alleging non-payment of dues in January. Till date,the Sahara group has paid Rs 98 crore to the MCA for the naming and ancillary rights of the stadium. The stadium has served as the home base of the Pune Warriors,the IPL franchise owned by the Sahara group since 2012.

Representatives of Sahara India Pariwar were unavailable for comment.