Vijay Mallya resigns as RCB Director, Russell Adams named new boss

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) owner, Vijay Mallya has resigned from his post as the Director of Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL). The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise wrote to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about Mallya's resignation.

According to sources, Russell Adams, an official from the RCB, sent an email to the IPL Governing Council regarding the current state of the role of the Director of the franchise. It has been five days since Mallya left India for the United Kingdom.

The future of the franchise was in doubt ever since the departure of the owner from India. Adams will now take over the responsibility of being the Director of RCSPL.

“Yes, we received an e-mail communication from Russell Adams, who will now be the man in-charge of the RCB team. The e-mail stated that Dr Vijay Mallya has resigned from his post as Director of RCSPL and will only be an Honorary Chief Mentor till his son Siddhartha is in the Board of Directors,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.

According to the letter, Siddartha Mallya will be on the Board in a limited role and will be consulted if the members of the Board want to.

It has also been confirmed that there will be no change in the ownership of the IPL franchise following Mallya's resignation from the Director post. Adams, who also assumes the role of being the vice-president of Commercial Operations and Cricket Academy at RCB was the one who made the confirmation about the ownership, following BCCI's insistence on clarity regarding the same.

“BCCI has some strict rules and regulations in place regarding franchise ownership changing hands. The owners need to intimate BCCI beforehand whether there is partial or complete transfer of stake. As of now they have made it clear there is no change in ownership pattern in RCSPL which is a subsidiary of United Spirits, which is controlled by Diageo,” the official said.

Mallya has been the owner of RCB since 2008, with the franchise failing to win the IPL a single time. However, it remains to be seen if a change in the directorial role will change the fortunes of the franchise in the upcoming edition of the IPL, starting on April 11.