BCCI denies Royal Challengers Bangalore permission to host mixed-gender T20 exhibition match: Report

Indian Premier League team Royal Challenger Bangalore’s request to host a mixed gender exhibition match involving the likes of Virat Kohli, Harmanpreet Kaur and Mithali Raj was rejected by the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators stating that contracted players are not allowed to participate in exhibition games, the Indian Express reported on Saturday.

RCB had been promoting the exhibition game on social media and through advertisements during IPL 2019 under the hashtag #ChallengeAccepted as part of their campaign to promote their sports drink but never gave a date for the proposed match. It now turns out that they had not taken prior permission from BCCI. They planned to host the game after the World Cup.

“The RCB had asked for permission for a mixed-gender Twenty20 exhibition match, as part of a campaign launched by Royal Challenge Sports Drink but it is against the BCCI rules,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by the paper. “The BCCI doesn’t allow players to be part of exhibition games and that is why the request was turned down.”