The Indian Premier League is an ingeniously conceived and spectacularly executed show. It features genuine sporting skills along with elements of the burlesque. Now into its third edition, it has acquired not just a mass following but also new cohorts of fans among those who did not know they would love cricket lite. But success has brought a stiff price: serious questions about the league's integrity and internal governance. As controversies engulf the IPL's Kochi franchise, acts of impropriety and wrongdoing are becoming evident at more than one level by more than one party. Suave Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor is Casualty No. 1 — for his so-called mentoring of the Kerala franchise. It is now established that with the stated aim of giving young people in Kerala, his home-State, a cricket team to cheer for, Mr. Tharoor sought to use the power and influence arising out of his public office improperly — in the interests of a business consortium that won the bid, Rendezvous Sports World. Although Mr. Tharoor is not a shareholder in Rendezvous, his close friend Sunanda Pushkar was given substantial 'sweat equity' in the consortium for no immediately apparent reason. Mr. Tharoor's undue interest in helping a commercial enterprise exploit the IPL boom, prior to the bidding and also subsequently, is a prima facie case of ministerial misconduct. The Prime Minister must ask him to step down from his ministerial post immediately, pending an investigation into his conduct.
According to IPL chairman Lalit Modi, the Minister called him with a request not to make public the list of shareholders of the consortium. Mr. Tharoor admits he contacted Mr. Modi on the matter, although his version of the nature of his interest is quite different. The Franchise Agreement does have a confidentiality clause, which prohibits disclosure of the agreement, other than as might be required under the law, without the prior written agreement of both parties (the consortium and the IPL arm of the Board of Control for Cricket in India). But there is no justification for the existence of such a clause in the first place. The IPL draws heavily on public resources, not only for security purposes, but also in terms of tax exemptions and tariff concessions. There is an undeniable public interest in requiring consortiums bidding huge amounts for cricket franchises to disclose to the public their funding sources and shareholding particulars. However, Mr. Tharoor is not the only one in the dock in this murky affair. A Kochi consortium co-owner has alleged that Mr. Modi offered the owners $50 million as a 'bribe' to withdraw from the bid after they had won it. The IPL Chairman has strenuously denied this. Actually, the original invitation to tender for ascertaining the two new franchises was cancelled after BCCI president Shashank Manohar found that stiff clauses involving binding financial obligations were included without the IPL governing council's approval. The subsequent tender invitation dropped the clause requiring the bidders to demonstrate a net worth of $ 1 billion and to pay an advance guarantee of $ 100 million. Evidently, within the IPL, there are serious conflicts of interest and vested interests lobbying for, and acting clandestinely on behalf of, big business and powerful politicians. The league owes its success to millions of cricket fans across the country and, to some extent, abroad. The time has certainly come for the BCCI as well as government authorities to look into the nature and size of the amounts flowing into the IPL, and ensure greater transparency and accountability on the part of both the organisers and the franchisees.
hello
the first sin is srinivasan owning csk. the second is the chairman of selectors lobbying for csk. the third is members of the ipl governing council commentating and making money. if all this can be allowed ,modi can also have his relatives in the teams.
solution----new rules banning any official in bcci and ipl to be directly or indirectly involved in cricket business, no tax exemption and bcci becoming a corporate house with 51 percent stock held by the public.
Crores of rupees are flowing witin the IPL. Nowadays, IPL is just moving towards making more money rather than cricket. Also the popularity of the IPL is at the cost of the popularity off test and one-day cricket.
Tharoor's predicament is unfortunate but this is the price he has to pay for his carelessness. When one tries to represent a "new" or "clean" or "honest" face of politics, there are many vested interests ranged against you. Therefore it is very important that there must not even be a whiff of scandal against you (real or imagined). The smallest thing can bring you down. Standards will always be very high (impossibly high) for people who are trying to reform an existing system. People who are trying to reform a system must accept this.
Millions of rupees and dollars flow in and out of this great IPL tamasha and no questions asked by IT dept until the tweets controversy. But a common man will be pulled up for an IT due of a few thousands. Is there any logic?
Tharoor's was a dismissal waiting to happen. He just became unlucky that it was for the cause of a state he belongs to. We, in Kochi, would have been much happier if IPL comes to the Kochi stadium. At least the local government will have a alternative stream for funding the maintenance of this under-used stadium. The real casualties though are not that obvious. If all the right questions are going to be asked henceforth, then many of the stakeholders in BCCI/IPL will have to answer a lot of questions. If every thing goes well, then Indian cricket will at last get to be handled in a professional way.
Sir,
Can any one explain how can an investor make good of his investment in IPL? More than Rs.1500 crores is being invested by a company and one's normal intelligence is not enough to find out how this company is going to make profits. One can only judge that some sort of unusual deals are in the offing.
Where there is big money involved in India it is extremely unlikely that there is level playing field, absence of kickbacks and commissions, political/bureaucratic influences, absence of Swiss bank remittances and things like that. Kickbacks collected by the politicians and bureaucrats in the last 3 decades could run into millions of crores of rupees. Corruption is nearly 100% and incompetence is nearly total in governmental bureaucracy especially at the highest levels.
What is the use of IPL to poor children & many others who are below the povery line? We do love cricket but we do not want it to be a business venture.
How about we bring the list of shareholders for all the franchises in public and the winning and competing bids. Modi cannot question others when he is doing exactly the same thing. Rajasthan Royals was purchased for 67.3 (lowest price), while the second bidder was only $1.5 million away. We all know the relationship between the owner and Modi. Also, Modi told Kochi to bid $300 million so they come well below the bid of others and hence lose. Modi's dirty laundry is in now in the open. I rest my case!
I don't really think Mr.Tharoor should step down. Isn't politics and cricket inter-twined in our country? If so, what is wrong in Mr.Tharoor mentoring the Rendezvouz Sports Group? After all RSG, faced with the might of big boys standing against them - Adani, Sahara, Videocon, etc, stand the risk of being bullied. Don't they need a God-father to turn to for support. Mr.Tharoor provided only such a support and nothing more.
The entire episode reeks of impropriety from all concerned -IPL as well as Franchisees. It is evident that there exists undue interest from all quarters in view of astronomical amount of money involved. Modi on his part does not appear having a clean past. Look at the secretive agreement clauses he seems to have pushed through hiding even the basic facts from public view. Tharoor, on the other hand, is a politician, and how can we believe he is an exception? The media war between the two is turning nasty and it is high time respective controlling authorities take a hand, clip their wings and bring the much needed peace. Thereafter, public hopes that a transparency is brought in the operations of IPL including why rax concessions should be given to such bodies that book huge profits and remain unaccountable. The secretive deals of its franchisees also need to be exposed.
MR V A George and Mr Syed Khan, I am so surprised to see your comments. A Member of Parliament involved in getting a team a multi-million dollar sports deal---- and you guys are asking what is wrong?!
An editorial that stresses the need for openness and transparency in the functioning of BCCI and IPL. This involves Big Money that could be source of Black Money and corruption. Corrupt practices involving politicians, are not uncommon. Our country is already one of the most corrupt nations in the world. The average citizen and cricket fan stand puzzled and powerless watching all this drama.
When a person gets an equity worth Rs. 70 crore in the consortium without any obvious reasons and who happens to be the Minister's close friend, it does seem a little fishy. As the editor has pointed out, IPL uses public resources. The Minister and the IPL officials are answerable to the public, however busy they might be!
It was already quite clearly explained why Sunanda Pushkar was awarded this 'sweat equity'. So, on what basis does The Hindu conclude that there is a "prima facie case of ministerial misconduct" against Tharoor? Merely on the fact that Ms. Pushkar is a close associate of Tharoor?
Hi,
1. Misuse of his post - There is no proof or allegation that Mr Tharoor had tried to influence the awarding of the team to the consortium. His role was limited to bringing the people together. As a minister or rather a public servant, what is the misconduct in this action? Isn't it his duty to encourage such economic activities?
2. Why was Mr Lalit hesitant to give the team to the franchise?
3. Why are politicians like Mr Pawar and Mr Narendra Modi entering the scene?
I have been following Hindu since my childhood. I am disappointed with the reporting on this issue.
How is a minister helping a commercial enterprise succeed a case of ministerial misconduct ? Isn't that what a minister should do? True - it is wrong if he accepted a bribe in doing that; but here it is very evident Tharoor has not accepted bribe. His friend who is an accomplished lady by her own merit gets remunerated for her work. Why should the minister quit for that reason? It would be such a pity if Tharoor has to go because of the IPL affair.
Why would Rendezvous Sports (based in UK) approach Tharoor and not the sports minister for any "advice"? What exactly does "mentoring" mean? Did he mentor them about the sports or bidding process? Tharoor is not an expert on either.
With so much of money involved and a clear lack of transparency right from the beginning, this was bound to happen one day, was it not ?
IPL T20 is a tamasha that can go sour for cricketers in terms of the overall quality and consistency of their cricket, while they are engaged in dishing out entertainment to the masses and incredible wealth to the classes. India has coined the best distraction formula in its history! I can't help becoming cynical.
Interesting questions being raised here. If Mr Tharoor has an interest in IPL Kochi team then he should not be allowed to have any say in investigations.
He should voluntarily step down.
Personally, I feel IPL is an entertainment with definitely some cricket in it. And it should not take precedence over other issues.
I don't see why Tharoor should be asked to quit. Does it mean that being a minister he cannot take part in mentoring or shepherding a sporting cum business venture to a place, he thinks, needs the most?I am also surprised that The Hindu, which is usually known to take the right stand on any issue, is taking such a lopsided approach to this issue.While the views on Mr.Tharoor seem to be subjective, those on Mr.Modi seem to appear only as a mere reporting of facts or what is already available in public domain.Why should a minister resign just because someone accuses him of something?I do agree that there has to be more transparency and accountability in IPL's conduct of business, I don't agree with you on Mr.Tharoor's involvement in this issue. Regards
Charges and Counter charges have maligned the spirit of cricket in the sense that definitely there is something wrong.Is it mere means to make obscene money or are there integrity,honesty and respect for the people who love this game so much and made it great game in true sense?Subsequent investigations and consequences would tell a lot about future of this game.
A section of the media has been after Mr Tharoor ever since he joined the UPA government. In a candid interview to a TV channel, Tharoor had asked why the media was never curious about what his ministry or other ministries were doing. This means that he has been identified as a soft target by vested interests in the media and put under the scanner. While a section of the media does not have time for developmental journalism, so crucial for a country like India, they have ample time to cover late night parties and private lives of celebrities. The whole controversy stems from the media's sleazy obsession with individuals, instead of core issues.
There is nothing wrong in Tharoor trying to bring IPL to his home state. If this is wrong, then it is also wrong for the Railway ministers to favor their state in every budget.
BCCI is not a government organization. A Minister of External affairs cannot influence it. If it has, then Modi is as much to blame as anyone else.
Even if Tharoor influenced and is getting benefits from it, it doesn't affect any constituent of India adversely. Media should focus on more important things!
I don't understand how come politicians cutting across party lines hold office in BCCI. If it is not for a share in the cake, I find it hard to believe it a philanthropy.
Authorities of IPL must be transparent enough to display its sense of accountability.
The media heat seems to be more on Mr. Sashi Tharoor than on Mr. Lalit Modi.
Mr. Tharoor seems to be in the news for the wrong reasons - all the time. After having held eminent international posts, he should know better. He used poor judgment, it is time to go. However, amidst all this hoopla, one thing is clear, IPL needs to be cleaned of the the sleaze and move on to establish itself as the pre-eminent cricket league in the world.
The Government taxes a lot of things including petrol, diesel and even gifts. Why should the IPL not be taxed? Ministers and politicians should not be involved in it. The BCCI itself should come under the scanner and all the murky deals it carries out should be investigated. The Public's interest should also be guarded and the tournament not be held during the exam season. Mr.Modi's wealth should be investigated and his past well investigated.
IPL is one more distraction for the YOUNG GENERATION of this Great Nation! What else can you think when it is the big Corporate houses, Bollywood & other vested interests ganging together to make a fast buck using people's addiction for some entertainment. IPL is neither showcase of our young talent nor doing any good for the Gentleman's game. Its pure waste of tax payers money providing security to the players and various venues. Ugly partying and show of money power when billions are struggling to get one square meal is heart breaking. Government should stop this Tamasha straightaway. What a pity that an intellectual of Tharoor's calibre is unable to decipher that the states do not own the IPL team but only certain business houses. No Corporate team can claim to be a State's Cricket Team nor can they represent them! If that be the case then it should be the Ranji Teams that should be playing the IPL. Sooner or later Tharoor should realise that Kerala was so far lucky that its youth are not wasting their time cheering for a Corporate house.
It is very unfortunate to see that a person of Tharoor's caliber to be involved in such a controversy. I am not taking sides as it is not yet clear to me who is telling the truth. Dr. Tharoor's involvement in the bidding process for Kochi is perfectly understandable, but the allegation of 'sweat equity' being transferred to his close friend Sunanda Pushkar is to be probed more in detail.
Clearly it's a case of media and politicians going after a soft target like Tharoor - many more politicians have been involved with BCCI/IPL for a much longer time without any hard questions being asked - and now one of our cleanest politicians is being asked to resign, when nothing is proven as yet.
Why should Mr.Tharoor step down just based on an allegation? If ministers were to step down whenever someone 'alleges' a misconduct, there will be no minister left to form the govt. I agree with the editorial that everything about the IPL should be made more transparent and brought into public domain. But unnecessarily wasting the time of a very busy and efficient minister by dragging him into this is unwarranted..
IPL gets lot of tax exemptions and concessions apart from security permissions and protection.If IPL doesn't pay tax,how will it contribute to national development?It will only help a few private persons to grow richer and richer.Financial accountability is something that MUST be brought in by government as you have rightly said in your editorial as it involves lot of big money.
It was always expected that IPL would turn like this one day.I feel members involved in IPL are more concerned about the revenue it makes rather than the upbringing of the players. The Government should also form a group which looks after the cash inflows and outflows of IPL for a smooth execution of subsequent IPL seasons.
Hats off to The Hindu for prudent media reporting, when the whole of the Indian media is in a row for a 'bite' on the IPL hullabaloo The Hindu is giving it only the requisite space.There's a lots of thing happening from earthquake to storm and Dantewada aftermath, from nuclear security summit, IBASA TO BRICSA, and GSLV - D3, Indian media is not at all concerned with these things . When the policy makers are brainstorming for a proper media regulatory framework, the Hindu is playing the part of a role model. Its high time that others also should pursue the path of The Hindu.
IPL is a business venture not perhaps subject to regulations applicable to businesses in this country. However it receives the support normal businesses today get from the government. Everyone knows what such support means.But what is not known is the source of huge amounts money in foreign currency needed to pay players and even the source of money in Indian currency since identities of all owners of various teams are a mystery. Is money laundering involved? Nobody knows. The Enforcement Directorate seems to have suddely got some doubts and as a result the electronic media has got an opportunity to further increase their TRP ratings. After the present furore subsides, subside it will, it will be business as usual.
One fails to understand in which way Mr. Tharoor would have manipulated the outcome of the bidding. Mr. Tharoor had made it clear in his interview to NDTV that he had never made any request to Mr. Modi not to reveal the list of share holders of the consortium. He only questioned the reluctance and delay on the part of Mr. Modi to sign the agreement, which as a patron of the consortium he is entiled to know. The misuse of power comes only if he had used his ministerial position to influence Modi/IPL prior to the opening of the tender.
Very well written Editor. I 1 in billion plus felt there is a event that we can boast to be international level live NFL or NBA........
But after the first year's success it really makes one feel that cricket is given less importance and money is being given more importance be it so called strategic timeout, or in stadium advertisement boards or so called blimps........after all these the cricket takes the last seat.
IPL is off shoot of BCCI and BCCI is not a private industry, it survives due to every single individual and they are answerable to them.
What is wrong in a Member of Parliament shepherding a group to get a franchise for his home state? Isn't this a common practice in our country? Though Mr. Tharoor does not appear to have directly benefited from the Rendezvous franchise, is there anything wrong with a Minister or Member of Parliament participating in a business venture? It is important to ascertain whether Mr. Tharoor influenced the bidding outcome thus using his ministerial position to the advantage of any particular commercial group. It is very clear that he did not.
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