IPTL founder Mahesh Bhupathi blames fraud franchise for non-payment of dues after broadcaster cries foul
India tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi launched the International Premier Tennis League in 2014. Pic/AFP
Mahesh Bhupathi was yesterday accused of non-payment of dues by the production company that was involved in the broadcast of his star-studded league IPTL but the Indian tennis ace said he was not responsible for the situation.
Bhupathi founded the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in 2014 and the league, which featured stars such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams among others, was halted after the 2016 season due to financial crunch.
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Breaking business code
The veteran Indian player has been accused of breaking the business code by TV Production company Broadcast Sports News. However, Bhupathi while admitting the delay in payments, said IPTL crashed not because of him but due to an alleged fraud committed by the Legendari group, which owned one of the teams.
Broadcast Sports News issued a statement, which was shared on social media by the company's graphic designer Steph Trudel, accusing Bhupathi of not paying many stakeholders. "Twenty two months later and the entire production crew, technology service providers, satellite uplink and distribution suppliers, chair umpires and court surface provider remain unpaid including their expenses, visas costs, per diems [daily allowance] and ground transport fees," the statement read.
When contacted, Bhupathi admitted that the League owes the players and the vendors. "There have been pending dues to the tune of approx USD five million from the league to players majorly, most of them are my colleagues and vendors as well. It's been extremely painful in general but we will get it done one way or another it's just this process of recovery needs time," Bhupathi said.
Fraud franchise
"In 2016, one of the IPTL team owners, the Legendari group, that owned the Japan franchise turned out to be frauds and their share of the payment, close to USD eight million, was the reason things came down. The management has been in contact with all confirming that as and when recovery happens, the dues will be cleared, majority of them have been cooperative since in the first two seasons. I guess some got tired of waiting," said Bhupathi.
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