CTI writes to BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to remove all associations with Chinese sponsors

The political tensions between China and India have escalated to a great extent after a recent clash at the border. Amidst all of this, there has been a rise in the anti-China sentiment across India. This has led to many Indians boycotting Chinese goods and manufacturers.

The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) has sent a letter to the Board of Cricket for Control of India (BCCI) asking to end their sponsorship deals with Chinese firms. The situation of such sentiments was born in the country after 20 Indian soldiers were killed during the clash with the Chinese Army in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.

As per the reports in India Today, CTI convenor Brijesh Goyal has written in the letter to the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly that if the deals with the Chinese firms don’t end there are going to be consequences. Apparently, there has been a warning given in the letter that if the demands are not fulfilled, then Indians will boycott the Indian Premier League and all other international matches at home.

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly is yet to respond on the Vivo’s deal with the IPL

The main agenda is regarding the IPL actually. The cash-rich T20 league which is watched globally has Vivo as its main title sponsor. The deal with the Chinese mobile manufacturing company will be there till 2022. Since the anti-China sentiments have arisen among the Indian masses, the deal between BCCI and Vivo has been subjected to public scrutiny.

BCCI and the IPL governing council has announced already that a meeting will happen next week to review IPL’s various sponsorship deals due to the India-China border skirmish.

“Taking note of the border skirmish that resulted in the martyrdom of our brave jawans, the IPL Governing Council has convened a meeting next week to review IPL’s various sponsorship deals,” a tweet from the official Twitter handle of IPL was posted.

It was only in 2018 that Vivo retained their title sponsorship of the T20 league. The deal was worth INR 2,199 crore over a period of five years. Earlier, BCCI had said that if there is a uniform directive from the government putting a blanket ban on Chinese products and sponsors, then only it will be able to get rid of Vivo as the title sponsor of the IPL. It should also be noted that BCCI’s title sponsors for all home series, Paytm also have a Chinese firm (Alibaba) as one of its investors.