Indian cricket authorities have terminated Indian Premier League side the Deccan Chargers for failing to comply with a deadline for overdue player fees, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said Saturday. The decision, the BCCI said in a statement, was “only due to the absolute inability of the franchise to effectively run the team”. The BCCI added due to the “stated position of the Deccan franchise to refuse to rectify the various defaults including payments to players… a decision was taken to forthwith terminate the Deccan Chargers franchise”. Since May the board said it had “received repeated assurances that the overdue player fees would be paid; all of these promises have been unfulfilled”. Deccan Chronicle Holdings, a media company that bought the team for $107 million before the inaugural IPL in 2008, sought to sell the cash-strapped Hyderabad-based team this week, having placed advertisements in newspapers inviting bids. It received just one proposal when bids opened Thursday, which it rejected “on the basis of the payment terms offered by the bidder”, the BCCI, which owns the IPL, said at the time. The company has been ordered by banks to reduce its debts, according to Indian media. Among the leading players signed up by the franchise, which won the tournament in 2009 but finished second-last this season, are Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, South African fast bowler Dale Steyn and Australian batsman Cameron White. The rapid disposal of the Chargers has been widely blamed on economic pressure affecting its current owners, but it also reflects the stormy history of the IPL. The BCCI threw the Kochi Tuskers out of the league last year over their failure to meet financial requirements. A separate attempt to eject the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab in 2010 over murky ownership disputes was blocked after a court battle. The IPL has become a major event in the international cricket calendar, attracting the world’s most exciting players such Kevin Pietersen to entertain large domestic audiences. But it has also been hit by a series of financial scandals, and its founder Lalit Modi was sacked in 2010 following allegations of corruption and money-laundering.
