Kochi expected to lose its IPL contract, Royals and BCCI decided to solve the dispute through arbitration

The possibility of a 7-team fourth edition of the Indian Premier League is more possible to become a reality as there is news that the owners of Kochi have failed to sort out the ownership issues of the franchise and are likely to relinquish the team.Teams from Kochi and Pune were included in the Indian Premier League for its fourth season making the total number of teams 10. But after the termination of the contracts of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, Kochi is also on the brink of losing the IPL contract, given concerns over its ownership pattern.

Hidden sources in Kochi have told the media that a majority of the owners of the franchise have agreed to give up the team. The sources have also claimed that the anti-Rendezvous group has decided to write to the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) to cancel the team contract.The Indian cricket board will summon a meeting of the Governing Council of IPL on Wednesday, 17th of November, where the option of organizing the IPL4 with 7 teams will be discussed.Last month, the BCCI had served IPL Kochi with a termination notice with a deadline of 30 days to resolve internal trouble, failing which their IPL contract will be cancelled on the 31st day.

"The Governing Council received replies from two parties, the Rendezvous group and the other co-owners, and they both felt that the dispute still exists," Shashank Manohar, the BCCI President told the media after this meeting. "The Governing Council has invoked clause 12 (1) and given them a 30 days' notice that in case they don't remedy these disputes in the 30 days, the franchise would stand cancelled on the 31st day," added Manohar.If the termination of the contract does occur, Kochi would thus become the third team to be terminated from the Indian Premier League after Shilpa Shetty’s Rajasthan Royals and Preity Zinta’s Kings XI Punjab.

In the meantime, Rajasthan Royals and BCCI have agreed to take the issue of the IPL contract termination to an arbitrator. The Royals challenged the BCCI’s decision to cancel its IPL contract in the Bombay High Court last month and had a hearing today. At the hearing, Janak Dwarkadas, the franchise’s lawyer told the court that both the parties have agreed to solve the matter through settlement and justice B N Srikrishna would be the lone arbitrator.Kings XI Punjab has also filed an appeal against the termination of its contract and is also seeking resolution of dispute through arbitration.