NEW DELHI: The controversy ridden Indian Premier League (IPL) has got its third official sponsor in less than nine seasons of the tournament, with Chinese smartphone maker Vivo replacing PepsiCo as the next sponsor for two years.

 
PepsiCo, which had replaced DLF as the title sponsor of the IPL, has gone global quoting Pepsi chairman Indra Nooyi saying that the company will only associate with ethical and clean sporting properties.

 
Confirming the new sponsorship deal with Vivo to Indiantelevision.com, a source close to the development said that the terms and conditions will remain the same as with PepsiCo.

At the time of filing this report, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla was not available for comment as it is understood he is attending a meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which is currently underway in Mumbai. 

 
The source said Vivo is trying to establish its presence in the Indian market and will leverage the IPL platform for the same.

PepsiCo had become title sponsor of the IPL in 2013 after they bid Rs 396.8 crore for five seasons until 2017. 

Earlier this month, the cola giant had informed IPL COO Sundar Raman about the decision to withdraw.

Shukla had earlier said the Pepsi pullout will have no bearing on the tournament as they were already in talks with other sponsors. Shukla had clarified that PepsiCo had been a good partner, had made certain points and the issue would be resolved amicably. 

Sources indicated that PepsiCo will continue to be associated with the IPL as beverage partner with independent IPL teams.

Prior to Pepsi, DLF had paid Rs 200 crore to become title sponsors of the tournament since its inception in 2008 till 2012.

 
It is learnt that PepsiCo was disturbed at allegations of corruption as well as arrests of players and officials on charges of betting during its sponsorship term.

 
These included Gurunath Meiyappan, then team official of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team, and Raj Kundra, then co-owner of Rajasthan Royals (RR), who had been given a clean chit by a commission appointed by then BCCI chief N Srinivasan. 

 
After losing the case in the Bombay High Court, BCCI went to the Supreme Court, which in July appointed the Justice RM Lodha panel after which with CSK and RR teams were banned from the tournament for two years with Meiyappan and Kundra being banned for life.