The executive committee (EC) of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has decided not to pay any compensation to the Visaka Industries for the IPL matches to be played this year. Confirming this, MV Sridhar, secretary of the association, however, said they were still in talks with Visaka officials. “We will convey our feelings to the authorities concerned as compensation might not be possible this year and make a request,” he said.
If the company insists on payment then the HCA may have to forgo the IPL matches here.
In that case, the Sunrisers, who will make a debut this season as the new franchise of the Hyderabad team replacing the bankrupt Deccan Chargers, may have to make Visakhapatnam or Cuttack as their home as there is a possibility of the matches being shifted there.
It may be recalled that Visaka Industries had entered into an agreement with HCA during the construction of the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium as per which all the commercial interests of the company would be protected during the ICC matches. However, when IPL came into being, the governing council did not agree to the commercial interests clause as IPL was non-existent when the deal was struck. Visaka Industries then went for arbitration. For the last two years, as per the court arbitration award, the HCA had been paying Rs 75 lakh each for the IPL matches.
According to sources, the EC members were unanimous in their opinion not to pay any more compensation to the aggrieved party. “We will be conveying this news to the working committee of the BCCI which will be meeting in Mumbai tomorrow (Friday). We have been paying Rs 75 lakh for the last two years as compensation as per the agreement with the Visaka people said a source.
The Visakha stadium has been a jinxed venue for the defunct Deccan Chargers, who have a poor record here. Last year Chargers played four matches here and the rest of the four `home’ matches at Cuttack and Visakhapatnam. A decision will be taken on Friday when the BCCI meets at Mumbai.