By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi Friday assured all the team owners that none of the sponsors or partners are pulling out of the second edition of the Twenty20 extravaganza.
“I want to make it amply clear that all our sponsors and partners are still on board. They have all paid as per the schedule. In fact, a lot of other sponsors have approached us and are willing to pay more than our existing ones,” Modi told reporters here.
Modi’s hurriedly convened media conference was held a day after Kunal Dasgupta, chief executive of Sony Corporation, host broadcaster of the IPL, quit the organisation.
Modi, who is also a vice-president in the Indian cricket board, said that Dasgupta’s resignation won’t have any impact on the IPL starting Apr 10.
“It’s an internal matter of Sony Corporation. He (Dasgupta) is a personal friend of mine. He was deeply involved in developing the IPL concept. But the organisation, whether it’s Sony or IPL, is bigger than any individual. There’s no question of Sony pulling out,” said Modi.
“We are jointly working with the management team at Sony to address this and we are confident that we will be able to amicably resolve the operational issues to the satisfaction of all the concerned parties,” he said.
Modi also rubbished speculation that title sponsor DLF paid just 50 per cent of the agreed Rs.2 billion for a period of five years.
“I want to make it amply clear that all our sponsors and partners remain resolute and steadfast in their commitment to the DLF Indian Premier League. They are all very much still on board and not a single partner has pulled out. They have all paid as per the schedule. In fact, we have received a lot of offers from potential sponsors at multiple prices willing to pay much more for our properties,” he said.