Vivo likely to quit as 2020 IPL title sponsors amid Indo-China diplomatic tensions

Vivo has all but pulled out as title sponsor of the this year’s Indian Premier League, following a strong protest on social media after the league’s Governing Council decided to retain the Chinese mobile manufacturer as the title rights’ holder.

While the terms and conditions of the deal aren’t known, it has been learnt that the five-year contract worth Rs 2,199 crore is watertight. Keeping in mind, however, the public sentiment against China in the country, the BCCI and Vivo have reportedly decided to part ways on mutual consent for this year at least.

As a result, the BCCI will be losing out on an approximate amount of Rs 440 crore but efforts are on to bring in someone else to offset the loss, even if partially.

Given the gloomy economic situation, BCCI will be happy even if it recovers 50% of the loss through a new sponsor.

The BCCI, in June, had announced through an unattributed tweet from its official handle that it would “review” IPL’s sponsorship deals after clashes between Indian and Chinese forces in eastern Ladakh that left 20 Indian soldiers martyred.

After Sunday’s GC meeting, also attended by president Sourav Ganguly virtually, the BCCI sent out a release, signed by secretary Jay Shah, officially announcing dates for the 13th edition of the IPL in the UAE besides mentioning Vivo as the title sponsors.

There are also talks that after calls for boycotting Chinese products, Vivo wanted to renegotiate the terms looking at rising negative public perception and potential economic fallout.