Indian Badminton League organizers on Wednesday "defended their decision to slash the base price of two of the six Icon Players, Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta, who were livid that their base prices were halved at the players' auction," according to IANS. Jwala and Ashwini on Tuesday said they were "disappointed, disgusted and hurt" when their $50,000 base tags were reduced to $25,000 as they went unsold at the closed bidding Sunday. After the cut, Jwala was sold to Delhi Smashers for $31,000 while Ashwini was given to Pune Pistons for $25,000 "in the open auction." The organizers, however, announced that "they would compensate the two" by paying Jwala $19,000 and Ashwini $25,000, so that they at least get their contractual base price. Ashish Chadha, CEO of Sporty Solutionz, commercial partner of the IBL said, "I do not understand what the fuss is all about. We have been fair to them (Ashwini and Jwala) despite the fact that they went unsold in the closed auction. We have ensured they got their base price and also their icon status, so what is the big deal?" (IANS, 7/24).
