The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally ended its 13-year old association with The International Management Group (IMG), the UK firm which was working with the board for the IPL. Brought on board in 2007-08 by the BCCI to professionally run the IPL on the lines of any world-class sporting event around the world, the IMG had been integral to the T20 league through all these years.
Retained by way of a five-year deal in 2017, after an initial 10 years of being on board, the events company had two more years left to go for the contract to end before the untimely exit came less than four days ago.
“The BCCI has, over the years, gained rich experience in running the league and is well-equipped to put in place a world class team to run the show. Right now, all we can say is that the partnership with IMG has run its course,” top sources told TOI.
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BCCI Ends Association With IMG
Peter Griffith – who quit IMG and the BCCI-IPL set-up in 2015 to join the US-based National Football League (NFL) as its chief operating officer; John Loffhagen – a senior lawyer with experience in sports events, who now works as an independent consultant; and Simpson – the latest among the executives who worked with the IPL have all left the building now.
“Relationships kept swinging from sweet to sour every now and then, like any professional set-up. These were qualified individuals, but every journey has to come to an end. This one has also reached its conclusion,” is how BCCI sources put it.
IMG’s senior vice-president and marketing head Catherine Simpson had quit her position last month ad people close to her said that that it was inevitable in due course of time.
BCCI Selects Five Venues For IPL 2021
Meanwhile, Brijesh Patel the IPL Chairman had said that the governing council has decided to allow the franchises to submit the names of retained players for the 2021 IPL season by January 21. The 2021 IPL season will commence in the month of April and it is expected to take place in India this time unlike in the UAE like the 2020 season. The BCCI also announced five tentative bio bubble cities in which the tournament would be based in.
The BCCI has narrowed down on five venues for IPL 2021. Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Kolkata are the proposed venues.
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