Star India Pvt. Ltd. Was today awarded the team sponsorship rights of the Indian team for a period of three years after Sahara's bid was declared ineligible by the BCCI here.
"Star India Pvt Ltd have been awarded the Team Sponsorship Rights covering BCCI Events, ICC Events and ACC Events, for the period 1st January 2014 to 31st March 2017," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement after a meeting of Board's Marketing Committee here.
"Rights include the right to be called the 'Official Team Sponsor' and to display a commercial logo on the team clothing of the Sr. Men's Cricket Team, the U-19 Men's Cricket Team, the Men's A-Team and the Women's Team."
The Indian team would have been without a sponsor after this month as Sahara had pulled the plug on its deal a few months ago owing to a financial dispute with the BCCI.
Although the BCCI release did not specify the amount, it is learnt that Star will shell out Rs 1.92 crore per match organised by the Board.
"The tender document, which was available from 11th November 2013, was picked up by 7 prospective bidders. Bids were accepted until 3:00 pm on 9th December 2013, at which time the bids were opened and evaluated. Two bidders - Star India Pvt Ltd and Sahara India Financial Corporation - were in the fray. Sahara's bid was found to be ineligible," Patel said.
Sahara, however, claimed that they were disqualified because of the dispute with the Board regarding the IPL franchise and the entire bidding process was "stage-managed".
"If there is a dispute why did they not disqualify us from the very beginning. It's very clear that the entire thing was a stage-managed show," Sahara's Corporate Communications Head Abhijit Sarkar alleged.
He said that Sahara was the biggest bidder but the Board did not give them the rights out of vengeance.
It is learnt that Sahara had bid Rs 2.35 crore per BCCI match and Rs 91 lakh for ICC games. The total amount bid by them stood at Rs 252 crore in contrast to Rs 203 crore bid by Star.
