BCCI to share $718 mn with other boards
New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The Indian board will share with the other Test-playing countries, and possibly the International Cricket Council (ICC), the $718 million it has earned through the auction of eight Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, a top official said Thursday. However, the players will keep the money the IPL franchisees bought them for at Wednesday’s auction in Mumbai, said Rajeev Shukla, a member of the IPL governing council and a vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
“The sharing of the money fetched from the auction of the eight franchises is an internal arrangement between the various boards and it will be decided soon,” Shukla told IANS.
He, however, declined to disclose the money distribution mechanism. He merely said: “They [boards] should be happy that their players have gained from the auction.”
Sources said the ICC, which has backed the IPL, could also get a percentage of the income.
It is not clear whether all Test-playing countries will be stakeholders or only those countries whose players play in the IPL are entitled to a share from $718 million.
Shukla said the players would get the money in three instalments, spanning three years.
The eight franchise owners spent $36.6 million on buying 75 players at the high-profile auction at which some of the best-known Bollywood faces and business tycoons were present.
The five icon players — Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai), Rahul Dravid (Bangalore), Sourav Ganguly (Kolkata), Yuvraj Singh (Mohali) and Virender Sehwag (Delhi) — were not put up for auction. They will automatically play for their teams and get 15 percent more money than the highest paid player in their teams.
The 44-day tournament IPL tournament, comprising Twenty20 matches, will begin April 18.