The Champions League T20 has met its inevitable end, after an official declaration to discontinue the league with immediate effect. This decision also made sure that the 2015 edition of the CLT20 will not take place.
The CLT20, which was started on the lines of Football, as a league of the best domestic teams all around the world. The event had been jointly hosted by Cricket Australia, BCCI and Cricket South Africa every year. But due to lack of sponsors, fans and outreach, the league’s future seemed uncertain and hence, it has been scrapped off now. There was a unanimous vote by all three host nations.
The league was conceptualised in 2008, but the first edition underwent in 2009 only, due to the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack. But, the tournament constantly failed to attract the crowd and sponsors for the matches of non-Indian teams.
In a media release, the secretary of BCCI Anurag Thakur said – “This has been a difficult decision as the Champions League T20 provided added context to a number of domestic Twenty20 competitions around the world such as the IPL in India, Big Bash League in Australia and South Africa’s Ram Slam T20.”
He added “Unfortunately, off the field, Champions League T20 wasn’t sustaining the interest of the fans as we had hoped. This decision was made, after consultation with all our commercial partners and meeting the contractual obligations of all parties involved. The Governing Council would like to thank everyone involved with the CLT20 and all those who participated in the tournament.”
Out of all the six editions, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians won the title twice each whereas New South Wales Blues and Sydney Sixers won the tournament one time each. The decision of the league’s end is a crucial one and came a day after the infamous verdict on the IPL betting scandal.
