CHENNAI: As the clamour grows for boycotting Chinese goods following the standoff at the Ladakh border, fans have begun asking if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will reconsider the Indian Premier League's (IPL) title sponsorship deal with Vivo.
The Chinese company, which develops smartphones and accessories, secured the sponsorship rights in 2018 following a five-year deal worth Rs 2199 crore.
As of now, the BCCI is unlikely to terminate the contract with Vivo. There is no official announcement, but going by indications, such a step is not considered necessary.
There is a compensation clause that mandates that the board will have to pay a hefty amount in case they opt out of the agreement. There is also a chain of thought that the IPL's association with Vivo benefits the cricketing ecosystem and the Indian economy. More importantly, the central government has not issued any directive on severing ties with Chinese business giants.
Despite this, a nationwide stir against the use of goods manufactured in China is on.
The noise got louder on Thursday, with reports surfacing where union minister Ramnath Athawle even called for a ban on restaurants serving Chinese food.
A day earlier, there were videos on Twitter showing people coming out in the open and destroying television sets and other goods made in China. In several cities, members of political parties are running similar campaigns.
For the moment, until there is an order from the Centre, the BCCI does not seem to be thinking of scrapping Vivo's IPL contract. It fetches them Rs 440 crore annually.
Unless the situation in the Indo-China border deteriorates or there is pressure from the government, scrapping the IPL title sponsorship deal appears to be an unlikely option.
The BCCI, in fact, is more concerned about staging the IPL this year.
Even though the International Cricket Council has deferred a decision on the T20 World Cup until July, the Australian board has said it will be "impractical" to host this competition with teams from 15 other countries in October-November. The BCCI is waiting for the lockdown to be lifted while having talks on whether the UAE or Sri Lanka would be a better place to stage the IPL if the Covid-19 situation in India does not improve.
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