Nagpur, Nov 28 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Sunday decided to defer its decision on the fate of the Kochi franchise for the Indian Premier League (IPL).

After a meeting of the governing council of the IPL, BCCI president Shashank Manohar said the board needed more time to discuss the issue and to take legal opinion.

"We have received the documents from the Kochi team. The decision has now been put on hold till Dec 5. We would like to have an opinion of our legal expert before taking any decision," Manohar told reporters here.

"We have entered into an MoU (memorandum of understanding). The sweat equity stake of Gaekwads has been diluted from 26 to 10. They have submitted to us some affidavits," he added.

Manohar said the board was not at all surprised with the sudden turn of events.

"We were not surprised, we were waiting. We had given them a deadline of Nov 27, and we were expecting it," he said.

Asked if the owners had finally settled their differences, Manohar said: "The board doesn't know anything. It is their internal dispute which they have resolved and come to the board."

Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, Rosy Blue and Film Wave hold 74 percent of the equity while the Gaekwad brothers, who own Rendezvous Sports World, own the remaining 26 percent stake as free equity for services rendered in successfully bidding for the franchise.

The stakeholders, however, were in no mood to give 26 percent as free equity to the Gaekwad brothers, who did not want to part with it.

The consortium successfully bid for the Kochi franchise pledging a whopping $333 million.