Reports | Vivo pulls out; IPL to have new title sponsor exclusively for 2020 edition

Tensions soared when at least 20 Indian soldiers were martyred in a face-off against Chinese counterparts at Ladakh in June and this, in turn, led to the Indian government taking proactive steps to boycott all things Chinese. Along the same lines, The Indian Premier League (IPL) came under fire and were asked to cut ties with VIVO, a Chinese company that’s serving as the competition’s official title sponsor. However, the IPL did not part ways with the company and even in the Governing Council meeting, that happened as recently as Sunday, announced that they were retaining Chinese company Vivo as title sponsors of the tournament.

However, in a startling turn of events, a Times of India report is now claiming that Vivo have officially decided to withdraw as the title sponsors of the tournament for the 2020 edition of the IPL set to be played in the UAE. Vivo, a Chinese firm that had bagged the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years in 2017 for a staggering sum of 2199 crore, still has three years left in its contract and it is being reported that the company will honour the contract in 2021, 2022 and 2023 but will step away from the forthcoming 2020 edition. 

"Vivo is going to have to exit the league this year and that looks certain now. How that happens is going to depend on how BCCI and Vivo negotiate the matter. The company (Vivo) has had its own share of issues and the BCCI has optics to deal with, given the political climate. They have to come to some understanding here because legal options can't be considered in this case,” TOI quoted a source in the know as saying.

Should Vivo exit, the BCCI will have no option but to find a quick, suitable replacement and an industry stakeholder opined that if BCCI can manage to get a replacement at 50% of the existing value, it will be an achievement in itself. 

"Even if the Board can get a replacement at 50% of the value, it'll be an achievement. Anything more than that will actually be a shot in the arm. Let's hope things settle amicably. The IPL has been planned and everything's set," industry stakeholders were quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The rising political tension between India and China even saw the Indian government ban a host of Chinese apps. Vivo has been under the gun for months now and should the news become official, it would be unsurprising to say the least.