Everything is fine with Dhoni, claims Spartan Sports
Jul 20, 2016 at 10:48 AM
A few days after Australia-based Spartan Sports, a sporting gear and equipment company, were accused of duping India’s One-day and T20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni of over Rs 20 crore, it has claimed that everything is fine between them and the cricketer. They also claimed that there is no dispute with Dhoni’s sports company Rhiti Sports either.
Earlier reports emerged that a three-year bat and sponsorship deal worth Rs 13 crore has gone sour with Spartan Sports, due to regularly defaulting on payments. With the royalty clause on Dhoni’s bat deal included, the total amount goes well over a whopping Rs 20 crore.
Reliable sources from a legal firm who advise Rhiti Sports, said that Kunal Sharma-owned Spartan has paid only four instalments since the deal was finalised in December 2013, with the latest payment being made in March 2016.
Rhiti Sports boss Arun Pandey refused to give an explanation of the whole situation but said that “everything is not smooth and hopefully the matter will be resolved soon”.
However, a statement from the Spartan Sports has downplayed the reports of disputes and claimed that everything is fine.
“Spartan refutes the claims that they are in dispute with MS Dhoni and Rhiti Sports. As a matter of fact, the recent press reports have made Kunal Sharma, managing director at Spartan, and Arun Pandey, managing director at Rhiti Sports, meet in India,” the statement said.
The sports equipment has now claimed that the accusations were an “attempt to disrupt the relationship” between Dhoni and Rhiti Sports before saying that they now have a number of new initiatives underway with India’s most successful captain.