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Indian team on the European tour will play with Sahara logo again.
The team has been delivered kits with the logo of Sahara following the Calcutta High Court order.
The high court passed an injunction, ordering Hockey India (HI) to use Sahara logo.
Sahara officials claimed that they have sent a quarterly sponsorship cheque to Hockey India on Monday and have received the acknowledgement receipt.
A senior HI official told that it would abide by the high court order and allow the Indian team to play with Sahara logo but refused to say anything about the cheque.
Though both Sahara and HI refused to divulge the amount paid, it is reliably learnt the cheque was for Rs.48 lakh.
HI, obviously, wants to take a legal opinion on accepting the sponsorship money as there is no agreement between the two parties.
The Sahara agreement as sponsors of the national team was with the now disbanded Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) headed by K.P.S Gill. The deal came into effect in 2003 and it was made for eight years.
This is the second time in less than a year Sahara had to take legal recourse to force the Indian team to wear its logo.
The Indian team played without the Sahara logo during the Punjab Gold Cup tournament in Chandigarh in February, but later used it after the company took legal action.
According to an official release of the company, "Sahara India Pariwar had signed a contract on July 15, 2003, to be a sponsor for Indian national hockey team (men) for eight years with Indian Hockey Federation. Under the sponsorship agreement dated July 15, 2003, IHF as an agency of Indian Olympic Association exclusively used the Sahara logo/brand name on the kits/apparel and other items and articles used by the national team senior and junior. The said agreement is valid till season of 2011-2012."
