Vivo quits as IPL's title sponsor a day after Swadeshi Jagran Manch raises objection
Vivo has paid over Rs 2,000 crore to the BCCI, the owners of the IPL, for a five-year deal.
Chinese mobile brand Vivo on Tuesday withdrew as the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League, a day after RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch expressed strong reservations to the BCCI continuing its ties with the Chinese company, media reports said.
According to reports, the Chinese mobile brand will be pulling out of the tournament for this year and is in talks with the BCCI for an "amicable separation" amid rising Sino-India diplomatic tensions.
The one year pullout could be treated as a moratorium period and if the relations improve, BCCI may look at inking a fresh three-year deal with the company from 2021 to 2023 on revised terms.
Chinese sponsorship became a bone of contention after the BCCI declared it would review the deals following the violent clashes between the armies of both the countries in eastern Ladakh. The clash, which led to the killing of 20 Indian soldiers, triggered public outrage and led to calls of boycotting Chinese companies and products.
On Monday, the RSS-affiliated body had urged Indians to consider boycotting the cash-rich T20 cricket league. "The BCCI and the IPL Governing Council have shown utter disrespect to the Indian soldiers killed by Chinese troops with its decision to hold the cricket league with its Chinese sponsors," a statement from SJM's co-convener Ashwani Mahajan read.
The IPL Governing Council had on Sunday decided not to cut off its links with Chinese companies, which are the tournament's major sponsors. Vivo, a Chinese mobile phone manufacturer, is the title sponsor of the T20 cricket league. Vivo has paid over Rs 2,000 crore to the BCCI, the owners of the IPL, for a five-year deal.
"At a time when the country is striving hard to make our economy free from Chinese dominance in the markets, the government is making all efforts to keep China out of our markets, this act of the IPL Governing Council is an aberration to the nation's mood," Mahajan said.
Mahajan had also urged the IPL organisers and the BCCI to rethink their decision to allow Chinese companies to sponsor the cricket league, while asserting that nothing is above the country's security and dignity.
The IPL is all set to be held between September 19 and November 10 in the United Arab Emirates.