Cricket
Champions League Twenty20 to be discontinued─── 09:09 Wed, 15 Jul 2015
The Governing Council of the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) has today confirmed that the CLT20 competition will be discontinued with immediate effect.
The Knights and Cape Cobras will be losing out on a major financial boost with the lucrative Champions League T20 tournament being cancelled.
The two sides qualified for the tournament on the subcontinent by virtue of reaching the final of the Ram Slam T20 in December, 2014.
It's probably crickets' worst kept secret with the rumour being doing the rounds since February.
OFM Sport was informed of the possible cancellation of the tournament by a player who remain unnamed.
The player said that both the Knights and Cobras had been told there was a chance that the side would not be going India in September and October.
A few months ago, Knights CEO, Johan van Heerden told OFM Sport that at that stage they were in the dark and couldn't confirm, not deny the rounours.
The Governing Council of the CLT20, comprising representatives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA) made the decision unanimously.
The competition was launched in 2009 by the BCCI with CA and CSA. The Governing Council determined that the discontinuation of the league was the most appropriate decision due to the tournament’s limited public following.
Mr. Anurag Thakur, Honorary Secretary of the BCCI said: “This has been a difficult decision as the Champions League T20 provided added context to a number of domestic Twenty 20 competitions around the world such as the IPL in India, Big Bash League in Australia and South Africa’s Ram Slam T20. "
“It was a fantastic platform for players from around the world to showcase their talent and the participating teams thoroughly enjoyed the experience over the last six seasons.
“Unfortunately, off the field, Champions League T20 wasn’t sustaining the interest of the fans as we had hoped.
“Further details associated with winding down the league including settling with the three nations that had invested time and effort in the competition, will be completed very soon".
Morgan Piek / OFM News
