Plans for a Twenty20 Champions League this autumn could already be in
trouble because of the insistence of Lalit Modi, the IPL's
commissioner, that no player with links to the rival ICL will be
allowed to take part. Read my previous Blog on IPL v ICL Politics, Who is the Big Bully?
Originally, the IPL, backed by the Indian board, demanded that no
ICL-contracted players be allowed to take part in any cricket anywhere
in the world. But while some boards fell into line, the ECB's tough
approach vis-a-vis the counties gradually fell apart, largely through
legal threats, and by early May every ICL player who had signed with a
county side was free to play.
Counties are increasingly concerned that if
they do as Modi demands and omit ICL players then they risk being sued.
If they don't, Modi will block them from taking part. "If they ban the
counties, about 15 out of 18 will be ineligible," Tom Sears,
Derbyshire's chief executive, told The Guardian. "I can't see the ECB agreeing to a tournament on those terms."
While the issue will not arise until the autumn, counties need to know
that the side they pick in matches which start this week will be the
one they can turn out later in the year should they qualify.
The outcome will not only give the counties an idea of where they stand
and what they need to do, it will clarify just how powerful Modi and
the Indian board are in terms of the global game.
"Franchises from the Indian Premier League will get first priority over
players for the proposed Champions League, and any team that fields a
cricketer from the unofficial Indian Cricket League will be
automatically disqualified from the international Twenty20 competition,
Lalit Modi, the chairman of IPL, has said." says a news article at CircInfo.com
Please note that IPL is owned by BCCI. BCCI is definitely scared of Indian Cricket League (ICL) which was "launched" before IPL was launched. But guess what there is no copyright/patents/trademarks that are ever enforced in India. BCCI got this great idea from ICL and launched its own IPL to "kill" ICL.
And money is might. BCCI's money power speaks out when it openly declares that any ICL player playing for any team automatically would disqualify that
team from participating in the Champions League. Isn't that non-sense and clear bully. How can IPL dictate it's terms for interntational level Champions League. Only money can dictate these terms and BCCI has money to buy other leagues, not just Indian players who are like sheeps. They have no guts to cross over to ICL.
