The match schedule, featuring 12 teams, will be announced on July 30, Champions League Twenty20 chairman Lalit Modi said on Friday.

“We are glad to see the CLT20 taking shape and momentum as the year’s most eagerly-awaited club championship,” Modi said.

“Having had considerable experience from the Indian Premier League’s success in South Africa, we believe that the club concept will slowly but surely be accepted by cricket fans across the world. The Champions League Twenty20 is thus the ideal tournament to crown the best-of-the-best in club cricket from across the cricketing world.

“This time around we are fully equipped to conduct an extremely successful tournament in India and given the cooperation of our fellow-cricket boards from Australia and South Africa and ESPN STAR Sports, I am confident that the CLT20 will truly be a global event,” Modi said.

The teams that have qualified and are eligible to play in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 include IPL 2009 champions Deccan Chargers and losing finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore. They will be joined by the top league-finishing team of Season 2009, Delhi Daredevils.

Other 2009 domestic finalists and winners include Victorian Bushrangers and New South Wales Blues from Australia, Cape Cobras and Diamond Eagles from South Africa, Otago Volts from New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago from West Indies and Wayamba from Sri Lanka.

England’s Twenty20 Cup finalists will be decided on August 25, 2009.

The teams will be divided into four groups of three each and will initially play each other on a league basis. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the second stage and four teams from the second stage would make it to the semi-finals.

“We have never propagated that we should be part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the IPL or the Champions League because I think there is a natural window for these two events,” he said.

“We never asked for one and we are never going to ask for one,” he was quoted as saying by the ‘Guardian’ today.

Modi was recently reported by the IPL website as claiming that the Champions League had been slotted into the FTP but ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat’s contradicted him.

“There was a miscommunication as far as I’m concerned,” Modi said about the report.

Modi said he was confident that various members of the ICC would sit together to find space for the events like the IPL and Champions League.

“Going forward we will be working along with members and work out a solution in the new FTP which is in discussion,” he said.

Asked if more such Twenty20 leagues may prove to be an overkill of the format, Modi disagreed and said instead it would bring more crowds to the other two forms of the game – ODIs and Tests.

“We just finished the review of IPL in South Africa and have found that 70 per cent of the people who watched IPL this year (in South Africa) never watched any form of cricket before. That’s an astonishing figure. For a tournament like the IPL to be able to garner new audiences is critical for the growth of cricket,” Modi said.

“If we are able to get people to Twenty20 we are only enlarging the pie: you will see them go and watch one-day and Test cricket.”

Modi said he could explore foreign venues for IPL games in future as well, and did not rule out England as one of the potential venues.

“Currently we haven’t examined the UK yet. We just had a tremendous success in our first season outside of India,” he said.

“This actually now opens a whole new area for us and we are now going to be examining games overseas. Where and when will be played is still matter to be debated and studied. The cricketing calendar in England is full so that would have to be taken into account.”

Modi had said on the IPL’s official website that an annual window for the Twenty20 event, which will be held later this year in India between champion teams of seven countries, will be created in the FTP.

“Champions League has already been slotted in as part of the FTP. For an international tournament of this magnitude and this quality, we are working with all the member countries and the ICC,” Modi had said.

But ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat clarified that FTP does not include any fixtures between domestic teams, even those from more than one country.

“The FTP does not include any fixtures between domestic teams, even those from more than one country, and only features ICC events, such as the ICC Cricket World Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World Twenty20, and bilateral fixtures between Full Member international teams,” Lorgat said in a statement.

“I have been in touch with Lalit Modi, a Vice-President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League and the Champions League, and we are in full agreement on this matter,” added Lorgat.

“The ICC Board, which includes all Full Members, worked together last October to come up with a date for this year’s Champions League tournament that was mutually convenient for all.

“However, that was only as part of a wider discussion on when we could play the ICC Champions Trophy, which was postponed from Pakistan in 2008 and relocated to South Africa,” he added.

The Champions League Twenty20 featuring domestic teams from Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, will be held from October 8-23.

Three Victorian players, skipper Cameron White, fast bowler Dirk Nannes and all-rounder Andrew McDonald and two New South Wales’ players, paceman Nathan Bracken and batsman David Warner are set for a tug of war between their state side and the IPL teams they have signed up for.

South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs has already been asked to choose between his home side Cape Cobras or IPL winners Deccan Chargers.

Deccan Chargers, runners-up Royal Challengers and Delhi Daredevils have qualified for the inaugural Champions League along with Victoria and New South Wales of Australia and South Africa’s Cape Cobras and Eagles.

Nannes, McDonald and Warner have signed-up with Delhi Daredevils while White and Bracken are contracted with the Royal Challengers.

The players must decide quickly which team they want to represent for the 12-team tournament that will be held Oct 8-23.

Cricket Australia (CA), which is also founding member of the Champions League, said: “Where a state player is also an IPL player, it’s the player’s choice”.

“If an Australian state player opts to go to the IPL side then there is a compensation arrangement for the state side,” CA spokesman Peter Young was quoted as saying by The Age.

Cricketers are not alone, even Victorian coach Greg Shipperd could also face a dilemma because he is the coach of Delhi Daredevils.

Cricket Victoria’s chief executive Tony Dodemaide said that it was too early to predict what conflicted players would do.

“We’ll be sitting down with the cricket operations department, the selectors, coaches and obviously the players themselves and work our way through that,” he said.

Having played for NSW in the Australian Twenty20 final last season, McCullum is eligible to play for both the Sydney side as well as Otago in the Champions League to be held in India in October.

But as per the regulations of the tournament, if a player is eligible for more than one Champions League team, his overseas side will have to pay his home side a $250,000 as transfer fee to secure his services.

Otago chief executive Ross Dykes had confirmed that he had spoken to McCullum who hinted that he would be playing for his home province.

“You won’t find anyone more passionate about Otago than Brendon, but let’s wait and see what happens, there hasn’t even been an official offer yet,” Dykes was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

“In terms of New Zealand cricket, I think it is pretty important we put on a good show otherwise we might not get invited back, so having Brendon would certainly be a big help.”

NSW are also eager to rope in McCullum’s services after losing their big-hitting batsman David Warner to the Delhi Daredevils for $250,000.

“There is no doubt having Brendon McCullum in your team increases your chances of a win, that is an undeniable fact,” NSW chief executive Dave Gilbert said.

“It’s about ensuring we have got all the bases covered. It is certainly something we will consider. It is a cost-neutral exercise,” he added.

The inaugural Champions League will include the top three Indian Premier League sides Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Delhi Daredevils, apart from the top two sides from Australia, England and South Africa, and the champions from New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Altogether, there will be 23 matches from October 8-23, and the teams will be divided into four groups of three, with the top two advancing to the second stage.

New South Wales, one of the Australian participants, may lose David Warner, who is likely to stick to Delhi Daredevils in the 12-team tournament to be held in India in October.

To retain the services of big hitting Warner, Delhi will have to pay around $250,000 to NSW.

This money NSW are expected to would offer to Kiwi team Otago to secure the services of explosive Brendon McCullum, who led Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL-II.

However it will be interesting to see which side McCullum chooses to represent. The organizers have left it to players to choose the side they wish to play for.

McCullum is eligible to play for NSW because he played for the Blues in last season’s domestic final against Victoria.

“There is no doubt having Brendon McCullum in your team increases your chances of a win, that is an undeniable fact. It’s about ensuring we have got all the bases covered. [Making Otago an offer] is certainly something we will consider. It is a cost-neutral exercise,” NSW chief executive David Gilbert told ‘Sydney Morning Herald’.

Otago chief executive Ross Dykes also hinted that deal could materialise.

“Given the fact he has played for them in the last 12 months, I think it could happen. You can’t ignore figures like that. But on the other hand, you have loyalty reasons for which you wouldn’t want to do it. Brendon would have to be involved in these discussions,” he said.

The Champions League will feature top domestic Twenty20 teams from India (3), Australia (2), England (2), New Zealand (1), West Indies (1), Sri Lanka (1) and South Africa (2).

One team each from Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand were drafted into the tournament recently.

“If political and diplomatic relations improve before October anything is possible and we can press the Indian board to include our national champions in the league as well,” a PCB source said.

Though the PCB officials were silent on the Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi’s statement that Pakistan would not be represented in the lucrative Champions League this year, sources said a change in decision could not be ruled out.

“The fact is that the Champions League is being held in India and given current situation only the government can decide when sporting ties will become normal with India,” a source said.

He said the issue of the Champions League would be discussed when the board officials of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh meet in Dubai with ICC officials to discuss the World Cup affairs.

Sialkot Stallions includes top players like former captain Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Asif.

“I think Champions League has already been slotted in as part of the FTP,” Modi said.

The BCCI Vice President felt a tournament of IPL’s magnitude also deserves a window in the ICC calendar.

“IPL and other domestic tournaments around the world have to find their own windows. We haven’t asked for an FTP commitment as far as that is concerned. But for an international tournament of this magnitude and this quality, we are working with all the member countries and the ICC,” Modi said.

This year’s Champions League will feature 12 teams and Modi said he would like to see more sides competing in the event.

“We were always moving to 12 teams in the second year of operation as the first year had already been delayed. And we could not do it, we were always moving to 12, and we hope to increase it to more teams going forward.

“We just want to broaden it for more and more countries, so that the true champion of champions is taking place. You will see more and more countries participating in the future,” Modi said.

He also mooted the idea of hosting the Champions League in different countries.

“We have always envisaged movement of Champions League from country to country, and to showcase the best of the best playing in different parts of the world, so that fans across the world can participate and be part of Champions League and also be part of the game. We are going to examine that.

“Once we have the first inaugural season in India, we will take it forward, many countries have invited us already to take the tournament to their country. For example, South Africa has invited us to bring the tournament here next year. But we are going to examine, all these things after the first year,” Modi added.

The tournament will feature three teams from India (two finalists and the top league finishing team), top two domestic T20 teams from South Africa, England, Australia and the domestic T20 Champions from New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

A total of 23 matches will be held in CLT20 carrying a prize pool of $6 million.

The teams will be divided into four groups of three each and will initially play each other on a league basis. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the second stage and four teams from the second stage would make it to the semi-finals, it was announced on Sunday.

The tournament was scheduled to be held in India last year but was postponed because of the Mumbai attacks.

The Royal Challengers, Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils will represent India, Victoria and New South Wales will represent Australia, while the Cobras and Eagles will the two South African teams.

The tournament is a joint venture by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA).

Lalit Modi, Chairman, CLT20, said, “I believe we have a concept that will inspire and motivate the future generations of club, state and county cricketers, while accelerating the development of the game globally.”

“Our South African experience has taught us that the club concept is slowly but surely being accepted by cricket fans across the world.”

James Sutherland, Chief Executive Officer of CA, and Gerald Majola, Chief Executive of CSA, were also present during the announcement.

Besides the three toppers of Indian Premier League, top two domestic T20 teams from South Africa, England, Australia and the domestic T20 champions from New Zealand, the West Indies and Sri Lanka will participate in the 12-team event.

“In the CL T20, I believe we have a concept that will inspire and motivate the future generations of club, state and county cricketers, while accelerating the development of the game globally,” IPL chairman and BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi said at a press conference in Johannesburg on Sunday.

“The inaugural edition did not take place last year due to unfortunate circumstances but we are fully equipped this time around to conduct an extremely successful tournament in India. I am confident that this will be a true global event the scale of which the cricketing world has not seen outside of the World Cups,” Modi added.

Victoria and New South Wales will represent Australia, while the Cobras and Eagles will represent South Africa – the other two founding member nations of the tournament along with India.