A change is required. And that too, if fast, then good. The ipl controversy has been unending and each and every day, a new person, or a company, or even a very big board gets trapped into the controversy and the result being destructive for himself.
The first of them was the former Minister of State, Mr. Shashi Tharoor (along with his soon going to become wife, Sunanda Pushkar), then during some kind of investigation, the (suspended) Commisioner of ipl Mr. Lalit Modi was caught, the next being the telecasters, then the franchisees, and to top it all, “The English Cricket board itself”!!!
Let's look at what the IPL set out to do (and did) for Indian cricket. The league ensures that our young talent has a far lower career risk when deciding to opt for cricket as a profession, that our sportsmen are exposed to the best coaches, that our stadia are continually upgraded, and that numerous employment opportunities are created around the country. For everyone, the salary givers indirectly turned out to be the (cheering) spectators!!!
The IPL could one day fund Test cricket and other sports in India—like an enlightened music label(!) subsidising its classical music portfolio with revenues from pop music. It has become more than a revelation as it has become the 6th largest sporting event in a span of just two seasons!!! However, for Indian cricket lovers, the recent revelations have been a drastic watering down of a psychedelic Indian dream.
But see the situation today… The introduction of 2 new teams has into has introduced a various range of unending controversies which links everyone- from the commissioner of ipl to the franchisees, the politicians and even some business tycoons!!! Lets see what are the problems ang changes required in a very brief way..
Problem 1
· Governance: Key BCCI officials behave like autocrats, with little accountability to those who matter most—the players and the fans.
· Solution: Man the board with salaried professionals who are aligned with sporting and commercial objectives.
Problem 2
· Financial dealings: Transactions lack transparency and credible auditing.
· Solution: Have a credible accounting firm audit the financials.
Problem 3
· Political involvement: BCCI and state associations have politicians at the forefront who find it difficult to stay away from the lucrative proposition that is cricket.
· Solution: Let professionals run the show.
Problem 4
· Shadow of matchfixing: In an environment in which betting is illegal, the doubt of player and franchise involvement in fixing results will always hover.
Solution: Create legal sports betting platforms with licences given to competent organisations.
Some of these may appear unrealistic, but it's crucial to aim for the ideal. While the BCCI has been successful in marketing cricket, governance is an issue, whether in reality or perception.
Keeping aside the issues concerned with private trusts, it's clear that at least a partial government control over the sport is warranted, perhaps on the lines of the bank nationalisation programmes. Rather than struggling in the quagmire of bureaucracy, it's best that the cricketing body is structured on the lines of a quasi-PSU.
One of the key allegations concerns misconduct during financial transactions, including team bids, media rights, etc. The Sony television, which has earned the right to telecast these matches has been earning a life since, it has hiked its ad charges to such an extent that, it charges 4-5 lakhs for every 10 seconds!!!
Sony purchased the telecast rights from WSG for near $1 billion. And, just because the IPL powers-that-be smelt more money in that area, a 10-year deal was scrapped after just one year on the basis of some lightweight excuses. It was a ridiculous turn of events against the biggest revenue earner for the IPL. But what followed was stranger still.
The very same Sony was then allowed back in as telecast partners for the next nine years at a mind-boggling $1.6 billion or so! If they were indeed incompetent telecasters, which they were not, how come they were allowed the same privilege? Sony may have been desperate enough to be coerced to pay $600-700 million more for the very same property. But, to my mind, ethics and contractual obligations seem to have been paid scant respect.
The only remedy is to have these sensitive processes managed and audited by one of the Big Four firms, with due checks in place to eliminate any possibility of corruption. In future, any cricket-related financial transaction will need to carry the stamp of a reliable auditor for the process to have credibility.
Both the BCCI and the state cricket has been managed by the politicians. So its high time for these people to leave way for the professionalisation of cricket body administration.
The root-cause of match-fixing is illegal cricket betting, which is estimated to be about Rs 1,60,000 crore per annum, and continues to flourish. The best solution to this problem, which obviously runs on black money, is for the government to create a legal cricket betting platform with the operations licensed out to competent organisations. This would not only help the sport, but could bring in substantial revenues to the government— multiple times the current tax receipts from the IPL of around Rs 200 crore.
But the problem is very big now, involving too many persons. All the problems have been in a conjencture now and it has been difficult to untie the knots. If it's all about taxation liabilities, that's a very easy thing for the IPL to clear. It can also cover these things up. But, it has to be more than that. It has to be established whether there were any serious legal transgressions (like money laundering).
The Modi saga has provided the country with a fantastic opportunity to cleanse cricket administration and, perhaps, provide a model for all federations. Transparency, to my mind, is the answer to so many ills that plague India. Every governing body should be transparent enough that it does not get into any kind of troubles which can gve them a bad reputation forever.
If quick measures aren't taken, the negative impact on the national psyche could be significant. A cleansed cricket ecosystem where credibility and competency prevails—that's what is now needed to raise the collective spirit.
The first of them was the former Minister of State, Mr. Shashi Tharoor (along with his soon going to become wife, Sunanda Pushkar), then during some kind of investigation, the (suspended) Commisioner of ipl Mr. Lalit Modi was caught, the next being the telecasters, then the franchisees, and to top it all, “The English Cricket board itself”!!!
Let's look at what the IPL set out to do (and did) for Indian cricket. The league ensures that our young talent has a far lower career risk when deciding to opt for cricket as a profession, that our sportsmen are exposed to the best coaches, that our stadia are continually upgraded, and that numerous employment opportunities are created around the country. For everyone, the salary givers indirectly turned out to be the (cheering) spectators!!!
The IPL could one day fund Test cricket and other sports in India—like an enlightened music label(!) subsidising its classical music portfolio with revenues from pop music. It has become more than a revelation as it has become the 6th largest sporting event in a span of just two seasons!!! However, for Indian cricket lovers, the recent revelations have been a drastic watering down of a psychedelic Indian dream.
But see the situation today… The introduction of 2 new teams has into has introduced a various range of unending controversies which links everyone- from the commissioner of ipl to the franchisees, the politicians and even some business tycoons!!! Lets see what are the problems ang changes required in a very brief way..
Problem 1
· Governance: Key BCCI officials behave like autocrats, with little accountability to those who matter most—the players and the fans.
· Solution: Man the board with salaried professionals who are aligned with sporting and commercial objectives.
Problem 2
· Financial dealings: Transactions lack transparency and credible auditing.
· Solution: Have a credible accounting firm audit the financials.
Problem 3
· Political involvement: BCCI and state associations have politicians at the forefront who find it difficult to stay away from the lucrative proposition that is cricket.
· Solution: Let professionals run the show.
Problem 4
· Shadow of matchfixing: In an environment in which betting is illegal, the doubt of player and franchise involvement in fixing results will always hover.
Solution: Create legal sports betting platforms with licences given to competent organisations.
Some of these may appear unrealistic, but it's crucial to aim for the ideal. While the BCCI has been successful in marketing cricket, governance is an issue, whether in reality or perception.
Keeping aside the issues concerned with private trusts, it's clear that at least a partial government control over the sport is warranted, perhaps on the lines of the bank nationalisation programmes. Rather than struggling in the quagmire of bureaucracy, it's best that the cricketing body is structured on the lines of a quasi-PSU.
One of the key allegations concerns misconduct during financial transactions, including team bids, media rights, etc. The Sony television, which has earned the right to telecast these matches has been earning a life since, it has hiked its ad charges to such an extent that, it charges 4-5 lakhs for every 10 seconds!!!
Sony purchased the telecast rights from WSG for near $1 billion. And, just because the IPL powers-that-be smelt more money in that area, a 10-year deal was scrapped after just one year on the basis of some lightweight excuses. It was a ridiculous turn of events against the biggest revenue earner for the IPL. But what followed was stranger still.
The very same Sony was then allowed back in as telecast partners for the next nine years at a mind-boggling $1.6 billion or so! If they were indeed incompetent telecasters, which they were not, how come they were allowed the same privilege? Sony may have been desperate enough to be coerced to pay $600-700 million more for the very same property. But, to my mind, ethics and contractual obligations seem to have been paid scant respect.
The only remedy is to have these sensitive processes managed and audited by one of the Big Four firms, with due checks in place to eliminate any possibility of corruption. In future, any cricket-related financial transaction will need to carry the stamp of a reliable auditor for the process to have credibility.
Both the BCCI and the state cricket has been managed by the politicians. So its high time for these people to leave way for the professionalisation of cricket body administration.
The root-cause of match-fixing is illegal cricket betting, which is estimated to be about Rs 1,60,000 crore per annum, and continues to flourish. The best solution to this problem, which obviously runs on black money, is for the government to create a legal cricket betting platform with the operations licensed out to competent organisations. This would not only help the sport, but could bring in substantial revenues to the government— multiple times the current tax receipts from the IPL of around Rs 200 crore.
But the problem is very big now, involving too many persons. All the problems have been in a conjencture now and it has been difficult to untie the knots. If it's all about taxation liabilities, that's a very easy thing for the IPL to clear. It can also cover these things up. But, it has to be more than that. It has to be established whether there were any serious legal transgressions (like money laundering).
The Modi saga has provided the country with a fantastic opportunity to cleanse cricket administration and, perhaps, provide a model for all federations. Transparency, to my mind, is the answer to so many ills that plague India. Every governing body should be transparent enough that it does not get into any kind of troubles which can gve them a bad reputation forever.
If quick measures aren't taken, the negative impact on the national psyche could be significant. A cleansed cricket ecosystem where credibility and competency prevails—that's what is now needed to raise the collective spirit.