Champions League T20 scrapped with immediate effect

MS Dhoni

New Delhi: After only six editions, the Governing Council of the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) on Wednesday decided to discontinue the unpopular competition with immediate effect.

The council, comprising representatives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA) took the decision unanimously. As such, the 2015 edition, scheduled for September and October, will not go ahead as planned.

MS Dhoni. Pic/ Suresh K.K.

The competition was launched in 2009 by the three boards. The council determined that the discontinuation of the league was the most appropriate decision due to the tournament's limited public following.

"This has been a difficult decision as the CLT20 provided added context to a number of domestic T20 competitions around the world such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) in India, Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia and South Africa's Ram Slam T20," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said.

"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."

Out of the six editions held from 2009 to 2014, four were held in India (2009, 2011, 2013, 2014) while two tournaments were held in South Africa (2010, 2012). IPL franchises Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians were the most successful teams in the tournament winning twice each while two BBL outfits - New South Wales Blues and Sydney Sixers - had clinched the trophy once each.

"Unfortunately, off the field, CLT20 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," said Thakur.

"The Governing Council would like to thank everyone involved with the CLT20 and all those who participated in the tournament. 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."

This decision came the day after the Supreme Court appointed Justice Lodha Committee suspended CSK and Rajasthan Royals from the IPL for two years in the spot fixing and betting scandal that rocked the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament in 2013.

Former CSK team official Gurunath Meiyappan and Royals co-owner Raj Kundra, both of whom were earlier found guilty of betting, were suspended for life from any cricketing activity undertaken by the BCCI.