The Ahmedabad IPL team is still awaiting a green signal from BCCI. The cricket governing body has delayed final approval after the links of CVC Capital Partners with betting firms created a furore. In an auction in October, the cricket governing body awarded the Lucknow franchise to Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG Group for a whopping INR 7,090 crore, while CVC Capital came second at INR 5,625 crore for the Ahmedabad franchise. The two new sides are supposed to take part from the 15th edition of the IPL.

While the Lucknow franchise is recruiting the coaching and support staff, the Gujarat team is awaiting the final go-ahead from BCCI. The deadline for the two teams to pick marquee players from the draft is 25 December which is also expected to be extended.

In early December, it was reported that the Asian Fund of CVC through which funding is to take place has no links to betting companies. Under the ‘portfolio companies’ list on the CVC Capital Partners’ website are Tipico, a sports betting and online gaming company, and Sisal, a betting gaming and payment company. But those are found to be linked to the European fund, reported Indian Express. CVC also held a stake in Sky Betting & Gaming which it exited in 2018.

i guess betting companies can buy a @ipl team. must be a new rule. apparently one qualified bidder also owns a big betting company. what next 😳😳😳 – does @BCCI not do there homework. what can Anti corruption do in such a case ? #cricket

— Lalit Kumar Modi (@LalitKModi) October 26, 2021

On Thursday, cricket news portal Cricbuzz reported that BCCI had approached a retired judge of the Supreme Court and his advice is being awaited. BCCI also obtained expert advice which has gone against awarding the franchise to the next-highest bidder, should the cricketing body decide to cancel the allocation of the franchise to the CVC Capital. The BCCI, apparently, will have to conduct rebidding which may derail a lot of IPL planning.

The IPL media rights tender is also set to be delayed. “The IPL Media Rights tender for the cycle 2023-2027 will be released immediately after the appointment of two new IPL teams which is scheduled to be announced on 25th October 2021,” the BCCI had said in a media release after a governing council meeting of the IPL on September 28.