Spot-fixing scandal has damaged IPL as a brand, admits Thakur

Anurag Thakur believed that IPL and Indian cricket took a hit following the spot-fixing scandal

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, Anurag Thakur admitted that the brand name of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been affected after the spot-fixing scandal that happened in 2013. However, Thakur strongly believed that the tournament and Indian cricket were still looking good to the fans and to the prospective clients equally.

As per the report on ESPNCricinfo, Thakur was speaking to the media about the state of the IPL and Indian cricket and justified the impact of the game by mentioning that four corporate entities had come forward to gain the title sponsorship for the IPL. Vivo were the ones who were finally chosen as the title sponsors for the next two years.

“As far as the branding is concerned, I personally feel yes, we got a hit. In the last couple of years, we have struggled. But we have brought reforms in the last few months. That has paid off,” Thakur said.

Thakur revealed that Vivo wanted to be the IPL sponsors for the next seven to twelve years, but since there was no option of extending beyond two years the BCCI and Vivo had to settle for the current two-year contract.

The BCCI secretary also told that the other companies which bid for the title sponsorship are going to be revealed soon as partners of the BCCI/IPL, although he did not share the names of those companies.

BCCI's recent ‘no conflict of interest’ move, which was introduced to bring about a cleaner organisation after the spot-fixing scandal, was also explained by Thakur in the press meet. He shared how the BCCI is trying to make sure similar situations don't happen in the future.

“If you look at it, that's an initiative taken by the BCCI, because where the incident started, when it happened, if someone in that crucial position was unable to take any call at that time, was that because of conflict of interest? Has that dented the image of the BCCI? In future, how you can take precautions?” Thakur said.

“We wanted to draw a line somewhere against anyone having a conflict of interest, irrespective of whether he is a coach, player or administrator so that the image doesn't get any dent or no such untoward incident happens in the future,” he continued.

Thakur also talked about the possibility of a mini-IPL being scheduled during the window that was earlier occupied by the Champions League T20, which is now defunct.

The upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) on November 9 will be addressing and discussing all the aforementioned issues.