The Indian cricket board president Shashank Manohar announced Sunday that the decision on the Kochi Franchise's fate following a dispute over its shareholding pattern had been put off till Dec. 5.
“They (Kochi) submitted a new ownership pattern yesterday (Saturday), but we did not have time to examine it,” Manohar said after a governing council meeting. “We would like to seek the opinion of our legal experts before we take any decision.” Kochi had earlier been given a one-month termination notice because of the ownership dispute.
As part of the new agreement, Rendezvous Sports, the promoters of the franchise, have agreed to reduce their ownership stake. This allows the other investors to have a bigger share in running of the company, which will be now called Kochi IPL Cricket Pvt. Ltd.
“They have entered into a memorandum of understanding whereby the stakes of Rendezvous is diluted from 26 percent to 10 percent,” Manohar said. “They have also given various affidavits which need to be looked into.” Indian companies Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, Rosy Blue and Film Wave are among the other investors with ownership stakes.
Two other franchises have been dropped from the league for changing ownership patterns after being admitted - King's XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals.
The inclusion of a Sahara Pune franchise and Kochi will retain a total number of eight teams for the fourth edition of the IPL, scheduled to be held in April 2011.
The player auctions are scheduled for Jan. 8-9.
