 "Good times over for Mallya as USL pulls its brands from RCB jersey for IPL-8")
United Spirits has withdrawn all of its brands from the Royal Challengers Bangalore team for the Indian Premier League T-20 cricket championship that starts today, the Bangalore Mirror newspaper reported today.
The move also marks a dissociation of erstwhile USL boss Vijay Mallya with the team that he launched.
The new team jersey that was unveiled yesterday no longer has any USL brands on it. Diageo, which is a majority shareholder in USL, has also withdrawn its support to the White Mischief girls, the cheerleaders associated with the team, the newspaper reported. White Mischief is a vodka brand owned by USL.
The only brand that continues to tie Mallya with the IPL team is Kingfisher, which is owned by United Breweries.
The first match will be played at the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday while RCB has its first game on Saturday against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the same venue.
USL has also withdrawn its two other brands – McDowell’s and Whyte and Mackay – from the IPL.
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Mallya now heads the team only because he is the chairman of RCB, which itself is a subsidiary of USL, rather than as co-owner, Bangalore Mirror said.
"Mr Mallya's stake in USL is five per cent, most of which, we understand, has been pledged to banks," a Diageo official was quoted as saying in the newspaper. "He is the chairman of the RCB sports management company and in that capacity he is involved with the team. The team belongs to USL and there is no ownership by Mr Mallya at all."
RCB sources were quoted as saying that the changes are a result of a refocusing of investment priorities by USL under Diageo management.
“In the new environment, RCB is not their priority this year,” the newspaper quoted them as saying. “That may change later but for now it is not a vehicle they are planning to use.”
Mallya did not respond to the daily’s questions on the development.
"It was decided to market the properties and have new sponsors on board. It was a conscious call," Sumonto Bhattacharya, RCB's spokesperson, has been quoted as saying.