Official: BCCI-Vivo suspend partnership for IPL 2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday officially announced that their partnership with Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo, who were the title sponsor, for Indian Premier League (IPL) has been suspended for the 13th edition of the tournament. 

BCCI released a statement confirming that Vivo will not be the title sponsor for IPL 2020. However, the Indian board didn’t mention whether the deal would be revived in the editions of the tournament. 

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020,” BCCI said in a statement.

ALSO READ: Exclusive - Kohli, Finch driven captains and inspirational players: Kane Richardson

Chinese mobile manufacturing giant - Vivo - had a deal of Rs 440 crores for the title sponsorship per year. Or 58 million dollars. However, the deal still exists and has been suspended only for IPL 2020 season. The partnership, in all likelihood, will be revived from next season unless there is a mutual termination. 

After the completion of IPL Governing Council meeting on Sunday, there was widespread criticism on social media given the political tensions between India and China. While hashtags like #BoycottIPL started to trend on Twitter, people expressed their displeasure on the micro-blogging platform.

ALSO READ: From team hotels to guidelines for families - Key takeaways from IPL 2020 SOPs

Since the criticism grew, Vivo decided to take a step back and pull out of IPL for a year, putting a sense of panic in and around the BCCI and all the IPL franchises.

With BCCI looking for new title sponsor, it would be interesting to see who comes forward and become the title sponsor for IPL for a year.