Vivo pulls out of IPL sponsorship

NEW DELHI: Chinese handset major Vivo has pulled out of the IPL sponsorship deal for this year.

But Vivo has not terminated their sponsorship agreement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

BCCI is soon expected to announce a standalone sponsor.

"Vivo has dropped out of IPL sponsorship this year. Since they had three years left under the contract, they will now do 2021, 2022 and 2023 instead," a source in BCCI said.

He added that BCCI will float fresh tenders for title sponsorship in next three days and will then decide the title sponsor.

The source told Moneycontrol that Vivo wanted a cut of Rs 130 crore for this year, citing poor sales and prevailing sentiments against Chinese companies. The company was slated to pay Rs 440 crore this year as part of the agreement.

The deal with BCCI for IPL sponsorship is Rs 2,199 crore for five years.

Reacting to Vivo's pullout, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has expressed great satisfaction at the development.

"Even though we had expected the BCCI to take a decision and remove Vivo but the BCCI cannot really give up their lust for money and therefore the pressure applied by CAIT for boycott of the event and withholding permission for IPL 2020 has played strongly on the mind of the Chinese company to push them to take such a bold decision," said CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal.

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch had said the IPL Governing Council disrespected the soldiers martyred by sticking with Vivo as a sponsor.

The cash-rich league has tie-ups with various companies which have Chinese investments. Almost all the IPL franchises have sponsorship deals with companies having Chinese investments.

A Vivo spokesperson, however, declined to give details about the development.

"We are neither denying or confirming the move," the spokesperson said.

Calls for boycotting Chinese products intensified after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Galwan Valley clash on June 15. This year's IPL will be played from September 19 to November 10 in UAE. Agencies 

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