Following the violent clash between the Indian and Chinese forces at Galwan Valley in Ladakh, demands for boycotting Chinese products have been gaining momentum. On Friday, the official handle of the Indian Premier League (IPL) tweeted that a meeting of the Governing Council had been scheduled the following week, in light of the border skirmish that led to the martyrdom of our brave soldiers. The meeting sought to ‘review’ various sponsorship deals in the richest T20 cricket league.
Taking note of the border skirmish that resulted in the martyrdom of our brave jawans, the IPL Governing Council has convened a meeting next week to review IPL’s various sponsorship deals 🇮🇳
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) June 19, 2020
Chinese sponsorship in IPL
Reportedly, a Chinese mobile brand, Vivo, is the title sponsor of the event. The sponsorship rights were secured by the company in 2018 for ₹2,199 crores for a period of five years. Even the Board of Cricket Control for India (BCCI) has sponsors from Chinese firms such as Vivo, and Dream 11, an online fantasy game. Other sponsors for Indian team such as Byju’s and Paytm have Chinese investment.
Call to boycott Chinese products
Following the violent standoff at Ladakh which started in May this year, many celebrities as well as social media users have called for boycotting Chinese products. Cricketer Harbhajan Singh took to Twitter to say that he will not be endorsing Chinese products henceforth.
Similarly, after netizens put up pressure to boycott Chinese products, the Chinese mobile phone brand Oppo had cancelled its live streaming of launch of its new phone. Actors Arshad Warsi and Milind Soman had also called to boycott Chinese products amid the standoff. However, the duo were attacked by Islamists and Pakistanis for voicing their support for India.
