The BCCI on Friday sought to downplay PepsiCo’s decision to distance itself from the IPL, but the beverage giant’s termination notice squarely blames the cricket board for breaching the contract for title sponsorship by failing to keep the sport clean. However, the beverage giant has made it clear that the reason was a lack of transparency in decision-making by India’s cricket governing the body.

“We had submitted the notice late on Thursday, we made it clear that the lack of transparecy and not being able to tackle several frauds within the organisation is the reason why were backing out,” Pepsi official said.

Pepsi paid Rs.396 crore for the title sponsorship:

Pepsi paid around Rs.396 crore in 2012 for the title sponsorship for a five-year period between 2013 and 2017. As Sportskeeda reported on the matter, both BCCI and Pepsi went onto issue a joint statement, saying that they were working towards finding a solution ‘towards the interest of the league’.

Pepsi officials delivered a notice to the board saying, “President of BCCI was acting in conflict of interest as the regulator of the IPL and at the same time as having the commercial interest in the IPL.”

The notice asks the BCCI to return Rs 78.60 crore of the Rs 396 crore they garnered. It also added, the fraudulent and illegal activities committed in the IPL adversely affected the image of the IPL as also the game of cricket and brought them to disrepute.

According to sources, Pepsi are not willing to budge from their position and are adamant on the termination. It is being said that, Paytm could be stepping in as the IPL’s latest title sponsor. The payment gateway firm are already the main sponsor, for the ongoing India South Africa series