The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) during its 80th annual general meeting (AGM) in Mumbai announced the decision to restore IMG as the promoting agency for the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament. The agency was associated with IPL since the first season, but things changed after dispute over their fee for the second season held at South Africa.

The agency had presented a bill of Rs 33 crore to BCCI, which was not accepted by the board as it seemed objectionable to some BCCI officials. The Board’s demand to lower the fee was not accepted by IMG, which later decided to terminate the contract at a meeting of its working committee on 13 August, with BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan conveying the message in writing to the agency.

However, with seven out of eight IPL teams favoring IMG along with support from agriculture minister and former board president Sharad Pawar, league boss Lalit Modi and broadcast partner Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd, BCCI had to reopen talks with IMG.

While IMG will be paid Rs33 crore for its work on the second season of IPL in South Africa early this year, the new agreement states that IMG will have to settle for a fixed sum of Rs27 crore as annual fee for the next eight years of the contract, said Shashank Manohar, president, BCCI.