More than a year after parting ways with Deccan Chargers, the Indian Premier League franchise's former CEO Tim Wright has filed a 10 million pound lawsuit against it, alleging breach of contract.
According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, the lawsuit also "accuses Deccan Chargers of illegal payments to an unnamed player which broke the IPL's salary cap rules".
"It alleges Wright's severance clause of 10 million pounds was not honoured and that his position was undermined when the franchise appointed KPMG to find a buyer for the Deccan Chargers while telling their chief executive it was not for sale," the report said.
Deccan had finished bottom of the heap in the inaugural IPL before stunning one and all by clinching the title the next year in 2009.
Wright, who left Deccan Chargers before the 2009 season for unspecified reasons, alleges that the team hiked a player's salary without consulting him.
"The first defendant (owner of the Deccan Chargers) offered a player a role within the team without consulting the claimant and a pay increase in the player's IPL contract, contrary to rules of the IPL," the court document states.
After Wright left his job, Deccan claimed the Englishman didn't want to come to India for fear of being arrested for violating the Foreigners Registration Act and visa rules.
Wright, in his lawsuit, says that he had disagreements with the Deccan owners over a number of deals, including entertainment rights and a tour to Dubai.
The newspaper reported that Deccan Chargers are responding to the suit and "a date is expected to be set tomorrow to decide whether the case will be heard in London or India".
