The fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) may see seven teams as Kochi’s dream is likely to end since the franchise owners have failed to sort out ownership issues and are likely to give up the team.
CNN-IBN reported that a majority of Kochi franchise owners have agreed to give up the team and the anti-Rendezvous group has agreed to write to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to cancel the team.
The BCCI will convene an IPL Governing Council meeting on Nov 17, where the option of conducting the 2011 tournament with seven teams will be considered.
Last month, the BCCI served the IPL Kochi with a termination notice, giving the franchise a time period of 30 days to resolve “infighting”, failing which their IPL contract will be terminated on the 31st day.
“The Governing Council received replies from two parties, the Rendezvous group and the other co-owners, and they both felt that the dispute still exists,” BCCI President Shashank Manohar had told reporters after that meeting.
“The Governing Council has invoked clause 12 (1) and given them a 30 days’ notice that in case they don’t remedy these disputes in the 30 days, the franchise would stand cancelled on the 31st day,” Manohar had said.