Freebies for the IPL — at a time of savage food subsidy cuts for the poor — benefit four men who make the Forbes Billionaire List of 2010 and a few other, mere multi-millionaires.
And so the IPL fracas is now heading for its own Champions League. Union Cabinet Ministers, Union Ministers of State, Chief Ministers (and who knows a Governor or two might pop up yet) are being named as people trying to influence the bidding process. Both houses of Parliament are in uproar. The taxmen have launched a “survey.” Many in the media and politics are happy to reduce it all to issues of propriety or personality. For, the BCCI-IPL is one platform where the Congress and the BJP cohabit, normally with ease. Big money is, after all, a secular, bi-partisan space. (Or tri-partisan: let's not deny the central contribution of the NCP to this phenomenon.) It's also interesting that the media, though now compelled to give the IPL's underbelly some coverage, are still reluctant to ask larger, harder questions. To go beyond their Modi-Tharoor feeding frenzy. And to avoid induced amnesia.
It was just 10 years ago that cricket was rocked by the game's biggest-ever match-fixing scandal. That too had its centre of gravity in Indian cities, and involved Indian bookies and Indian businessmen. But along comes a new hyper-commercialised version of the game. It has scandal-waiting-to-happen written all over it and the media say “wow! This looks great,” promptly going into the “willing suspension of disbelief” mode. This venture had the right names, high glamour and, above all, big advertising and corporate power. There were obvious conflicts of interest (apart from what it did to cricket, the game) from day one. Here was Big Business in open embrace with its political patrons. There were also those who did not give the public office they held a fraction of the time or importance they gave to the BCCI-IPL. But few serious questions came up in the media.
Now there's a forced discussion of opaque dealings, bribes, and “we-know-how-to-deal-with-you” threats. Of shady investors, murky dealings and, possibly, large-scale tax evasion. Of franchisees alleging they were offered a $50 million bribe to exit. Or claiming that a Union Minister warned them to withdraw from the rodeo with grave threats. It all leads to things much bigger than Modi versus Tharoor or issues of “impropriety” (a nice, genteel word). Leave aside the narrow money details or the fact that some franchisees are thought to be losing tens of crores each year. Skip the fact that despite those losses, newer franchisees between them put up over Rs.3,000 crore for two teams that don't exist. Only a tiny band of journalists have at all shown the scepticism demanded of their profession. These few have stuck at it gamely only to find themselves isolated, mocked as party-poopers and the recipients of threats and abusive mail.
How about questions on public subsidies going to some of the richest people in the world? The BCCI-IPL cost the public crores of rupees each year in several ways. The waiving of entertainment tax worth Rs 10 crore -12 crore for the IPL in Maharashtra alone was discussed in the State's Assembly. It was little reported and less discussed in the media. Maharashtra has extended other support to the IPL, which is yet to be quantified. This, despite being a State whose debt will cross Rs. 200,000 crore in the coming year. And there are similar subsidies and write-offs extended to the BCCI-IPL in other States, other venues.
A whole raft of concealed freebies from public resources to the BCCI-IPL is also not discussed. We have no picture of their full scope. No questions either on why a public sector company should be billing itself as the “sponsor” of a team owned by the fourth richest man in the planet. No questions asked about issues ranging from super-cheap land leases and stadia rentals and low-cost stadia security. We don't even know what the total bill to the public is: just that it is probably in tens of crores. We do know that these supports to the IPL from public money come at a time when subsidies to the poor are being savaged. But we don't want to go down that road. An inquiry into the IPL must cover the BCCI as well and must record all the open and hidden write-offs and subsidies that both get.
Who stand to gain from the public wet-nursing of the IPL? Among others, four gentlemen who make the Forbes Billionaires List of 2010. Three of them are team owners and one is a title sponsor. All dollar billionaires and long-time residents on the Forbes List. Then there are the mere millionaires in the shape of Bollywood stars. For all these and other worthy people, governments bend over backwards to make concessions. Even as they slash food subsidies in a period of rising hunger. Big time partying is an integral part of the IPL show. Only look who is paying for that. Street argot has already begun to brand the IPL as Indian Paisa League or, more directly, India Paisa Loot.
But the BCCI and the IPL preside over huge sums in advertising. So even when the IPL angers the media by pushing them around on coverage restrictions, the media cave in. The larger silence continues. The strongest criticism of what has been going on (till the Kochi chaos) has come from Sports Minister M.S. Gill, an old-fashioned cricket lover actually worried about the game. Not from the media that cover the IPL. He has criticised the tax concessions and security subsidies that have hurt public security in the cities concerned while the IPL is on. It's also worth pointing out that Mr. Gill is the one Minister (of the four Ministers on your TV screens in the present drama) actually connected with sports in a legitimate way — and not tainted by scandal. But maybe that's natural: the IPL has little to do with sports.
The Sports Minister pointed out a long time ago that there were dangerous conflicts of interests at the top levels of the BCCI-IPL. He also told Karan Thapar on television that he found the idea of “letting off tax” (waivers for IPL) quite unacceptable. “This is a poor country. I never forget that. There is a huge deficit in the budget even this year ...” And went on to say that: “when business is earning it in the shape of these teams and whatever the structure, I think the legitimate tax should be taken and should be used for the country maybe even for sports, other sports.” Far from that happening, we are taking it from the public and handing it out to the billionaires.
Fire brigades in the cities have been muted or overruled in their objections to the IPL's ‘hospitality boxes' (where seats can cost you Rs. 40,000) as fire hazards. But some of these tickets also get you to a late night party with IPL stars and other dubious benefits. Some have raised the question of what this does to the players' performance the next day. But the party goes on. Nothing could be further removed from the lives of the ‘cricket crazy public' — whose supposed interests are invoked for every new spin to the game. IPL does not come cheap.
Mumbai's elite recently preened themselves on Earth Hour where the city saved some power by switching off lights for 60 minutes. Great savings could be made if all IPL games were played in daylight. There is something ugly about that much electricity consumed by a private profit entity (guzzling public money) in a season when Marathwada and Vidarbha suffer 12-15 hour power cuts. Something that always devastates the performance of their poorer children in the examinations. They could end up having (on paper at least) a Right to Education, but none to electricity.
With the IPL comes the convergence of the most important media trends: the ABC of Media — Advertising, Bollywood and Corporate Power. Corporate barons and Bollywood stars own cricket teams. One IPL team is owned by a newspaper. Other dailies have become ‘media partners' of IPL teams. Some Bollywood stars have ‘promotional agreements' for their films with TV channels who disguise their paid-for gushing over those films as “news.” Once national heroes, cricket's top icons are now ‘capital assets' of the franchise owners. Once proud of their disavowal of tobacco and liquor advertising, the icons now plug for the latter in surrogate form. And are linked to the former in other ways. And a once great game moves from heartfelt public ownership to a pocket-driven private one; from a national passion to a hyper-commercial nightmare.
Keywords: Indian Premier League, IPL controversy, IPL owners
Bit more guts Mr.Sainath. Lot of conjectures but no concrete figures. The mysterious individuals in the Forbes List; naming the indiviuals and the amounts involved in the milking of the public exchequer would have counted for somthing. Now the article reads like a cheap James Hadley Chase novel.
Hats off Sainath! One sane voice amidst the maddening crowd. India lives in villages too!
Excellent article.. Sainath sir... in a world of intellectual dishonesty, you stand out as a man of right conscioustness
who is interested in watching "cricket" today. IPL = bolly stars+ petite cheerleaders + billionaires.
I didnt get one MAJOR aspect of the IPL. why have teams classified on the basis of region? India as it is does not have dearth of "regional" issues!
Nice article... Shocking how we can grant tax subsidies like the ones you've mentioned. A 10-12 crore would hardly matter to the IPL I think? The government should consider other ways of getting money from the IPL. Agree on most other points, but we Indians - be it the rich or poor - can never switch off from the glitz and glamour in anything, can we? All that is needed is more transparency and a little less commercialization - I mean, I get fed up sometimes with the so-n-so Catch, so-and-so blimp, etc. Compare with the EPL, La Liga, NBA, etc and you'll see the difference.
About the electricity usage... switching matches to the day could affect our productivity too, right? Probably the weekend matches should be switched over to the day - that won't hurt a lot?
Excellent. The point of interest is that BCCI is tax-exempt. So, IPL is also automatically tax exempt. So, this may lead to these industrialists/movie moguls/all other shady characters in the world can convert their black money without having to resort to the other avenues. And ofcourse, the electricity, the security and other must haves are all being paid by the tax payers. Oh yeah..the pricy tickets that come with an invitation to the parties...where does that money go? Does IPL re-imburse the states for the usage of the resources?
And how come none of these bloody politicians have the guts to make sure BCCI/IPL etc. are revoked the tax-free status? BCCI does not need that privilege anymore, as can be seen, they make the spectators suffer for wanting to watch a game. Just visit one of the toilets and you will see what you are getting.
This whole country runs/breathes/functions on corruption, because the junta is spineless. They will suffere their indignitites, praying to Gods, and telling themselves the good days will come...which happens to come only for the corrupted. GOD SAVE THIS COUNTRY. Your article exposed only one aspect of the society. There are more, many more like this where people are getting robbed in day light.
A very good article. The doubts have come true and real. Boycot IPL, Love cricket.
It's amazing that some people are still in favour of IPL and are able to justify corruption (someone said it trickles down),but the clear picture is that both the RICH and the POOR are sailing in the same boat(India)having a hole (corruption). Sainath sir, I dont' see that India is going to be awake any day!!!
It was first politicians who had selfish interests, then came bureaucrats followed by corporate world. It is unfortunate that even media has followed the same way. Can't we Indians be just honest in what we do? Kudos to Sainath and my favourite 'The Hindu'.
Wish more journalists like Mr. Sainath were there in our media. Even better, wish all those people who agree with him here spend the same amount of time doing something for their community or at least electing honest individuals to govern them.
One of the comments that I saw above mentioned "CAPITALISM". Are we really ready for something like that? Would we ever appreciate it?
We in the sub-continent have our priorities all topsy-turvy, because our people do not know what is good for them. They are enamoured by glamour and bigness forgetting the enormity of poverty, illiteracy, absence of public utilities, health, corruption in every segment of the society. The rich take advantage of this mindset and lull us into sleep and stupour with events like IPL, film and beauty awards etc. as the public is quite complacent with their (impoverished) lot.
Thanks for the analysis. One wonders how people in power and behind the whole issue seem to be conveniently ignorant of these or acting oblivious.
A great article indeed, right to the heart of the problem called "Indian Premier League". As said by various people, India has a majority of population below poverty line. On one side we have the terrorists and groups who kill for their needs, and on the other Politics, Drugs and Poverty. When in the other countries, similar but highly Professional Leagues like EPL, La Liga, Serie A, MLS, NBA, NHL, etc. are running with much more of cash flow, they are more transparent. Let everything be cleansed with the transparency and purity of truth.
Sir, as usual it is an excellent article. Take whichever profit making sector in the country, it is only the very few elite who are reaping the profits at the cost of country's resources or at the cost of the poor. But what seems to be surprising is the fact it is those people who have been given these subsidies or tax pay offs etc and were given undue adventages at various spheres are regarded as the successful people.
Mr Sainath, ever heard of the trickle down effect? The crores that are spent on IPL every year provide employment and money to millions of taxi operators, hotel staffers, food suppliers, printers, media people at all levels, etc. It puts money into the pockets of everyone from the ad agency executive to the salary of the bus and taxi drivers whose companies survive because of the business IPL generates. Ths money comes from these millionaires who pay IPL for the players, which in turn pays for this mega event every year. Govt doesn't pay for it. While I agree there is no need to save them 10-12 cr in taxes, please have a detailed look at the stark facts of the enterprise before you hasten to condemn it.
Thank you once again,
One can only hope that some of the players are reading this article. And I for one would most certainly like to hear what they have to say.
P Sainath - The James Bond of Indian Journalism.
Praveen Swami,Siddharth Varadarajan and P Sainath are the three reasons why I continue to read The Hindu.
Most television AND print journalists are probably unaware of all the points you raised, which is absolutely inexcusable.
What an article sir!!! My admiration for you grows.
While the article and the comments sound logical, it has to be noted that Indians are not good/mature at handling success emerging out of any captilistic venture. We want reform, we want jobs, we want entertainment but if something appears to be monopolistic all of us get irritated/jealous and start our usual mud slinging on such things. When Reliance became hugely successful a lot of people questioned Ambani building a big apartment. A similar set of comments are now thrown at IPL. Either we have to accept capitalism as it is as long as it is not illegal. If we start questioning any big event or a successful venture contrasting it against poverty in India, we will get no where !.
A well written article but as others suggested could have been better if it had more concrete facts/numbers to support these observations.
Sainath always asks the right questions. These are the questions of the silent majority.
However, it will be met with a deafening silence. And in that apparent silence, the party will still carry on. People's memory is too short, the media is always fixated on today's issues, and yesterday's loot gets forgotten very soon indeed. Sainath's voice seems too feeble and too faint to be heard in the mainstream media, and it would easily be labeled leftist or communist, and dismissed with utter disregard.
However, this is the voice of the silent majority, the majority that goes hungry to bed every night, which has no hope of breaking out of the unfortunate situation of existence.
This is an excellent article. An unbiased and transparent article. This is similar to an article which was written few days back by Chethan Bhagath in TOI where in, the IPL is just a platform for those who got money to spend and lavishly. I would say the dimension of analysis is still more in depth and has unleashed the black side of the game.
Excellent article. The author has called spade a spade. This article reminds me that all journalism has not become 'paid jurnalism". The country's fouth estate has become a party to it. It is the irony. Can India see a light at the end of the tunnel?
Not all the issues raised in this article were brought about because of the IPL. Corruption, business-politics nexus, scarcity of electricity or even ostentatious displays of wealth have been there with us before the IPL and will still be there even if, for some reason, the IPL were to disappear. However, the issues raised in this otherwise excellent article that pertain to the IPL are very important. The main issues, in my opinion are:
1. Start imposing taxes on IPL matches.
2. Charge franchises for providing security cover.
3. Make franchise ownership transparent.
4. Maybe scrap the latest franchise auction and do it again, this time limit auction prices to sane, workable figures.
Kudos to Mr Sainath. What an excellent analysis. The article exposes the inhuman attitude of politicians, governments, the so-called icons and the billionaires. Any one who reads this article and who is concerned about the poor will be moved.
Excellent article!
Very well thought and presented. A must read for all the IPL lovers,especially the youth.
There is no logic in people spending crores on electricity for entertainment when many people struggle to get electricity for their daily needs.
Kudos to The Hindu team.
Thanks for the excellent article. The IPL has no motive other than looting public money. If Sharukh khan et al., is interested in sports genuinely then they could organize games for Hockey, Wrestling and other sports which are equally interesting but yet to catch the imagination of the masses. Private ventures can do wonder in sports in this country with such a mass population.
This article should be discussed in all news channels and state and central assembly houses.
Doing a Robin Hood would have been the correct sequence in a country like ours and not the other way around!
Bull's Eye!!!
This extreme entertainment carnival captivates people in a trance. Can we put a cost to its impact on the country's productivity? Or the impact of late night partying on our culture and (in)discipline?
Surely - we need to act a bit more responsible as a nation.
Sir,
I am in complete sync with your views. There have been many sport leagues over the world which are identified with money and glamor(NBA, NFL, Formula One). But these have always been the crowns of developed world. Events like IPL in India speaks up the ever increasing difference between rich and poor. So even if the country cannot shun the show for the love of the game, we do want that any subsidies provided should be stopped henceforth. The money, as rightly stated by Mr. M.S.Gill, can be used for the development of other sports or other development activities.
We as a concerned citizen do want an independent and in depth inquiry into all IPL affairs by a competent government authority.
State governments want the IPL teams in each of their states so that they can make money and at the same time franchises want tax cuts and subsidies to multiply their investments. And crores that could be used to build schools or hospitals are wasted on entertainment!
The questions asked in this article are very pertinent and as citizen of this country, all of us deserve answers.
Great article!
Well thought through.
Its the public viewing that fuels the IPL fire. When we clearly know that IPL is hurting the studies of children and students, when we clearly know that 'its all fixed-up', when we clearly know that IPL is hurting the game and is mainly concerned with minting money, do we, The Public, stop watching the game? No. We dont. We make all the comments in the world but when the clock strikes 8, what do we do? One cant resist IPL. The initiative should start from the public. STOP WATCHING IPL. Are we brave enough to do it?
Sainath as usual, incisive comments, satirical jibes. And while he is mostly correct, he gets bit overboard with the idea. Somewhere, he seems to miss the fact that tax breaks are not giveaways in absolute terms. In fact, that serves as a source of social revenue generation and creating money in the system.
Nevertheless, huge clout of corporates used in bending the rules in their favor cannot be ignored.
Thanks for such an article. As inflation is going up and the poor are not able get a meal per day, these waivers are not necessary in the first place and the responsible Govt can think of implementing this for the dying farmers.
Please can you explain how public money is being used to support IPL? It's true that more transparency is needed. However, sporting events like IPL are good for the country as even the poor love it. What we need is learn from success of IPL and try to market other games like football, hockey and tennis. Only public interest in sports will make us a better sporting nation.
Great Piece! keep up the good work for India and South Asia!
Good article.
Can we use the RTI act to get the truth?
Can a forum be organised about this?
Excellent article. My congratulations to Mr. Sainath. I hope that this is just the first in a series of articles on this subject so that the issue stays in the limelight. Maybe that will result in the awakening of the rest of the media world.
I remember as a teenager in Chennai, we used to spend at least two hours a day playing cricket on the street or nearby park or where ever. This will always be my lasting memory of cricket in India. Simple, passionate and most of all fun. The IPL is a joke beyond mention. Commercial India gone mad. Echoing some of the previous people who made comments, The Hindu must be congratulated on publishing this article and the author who wrote. Long may quality journalism continue in India.
There cannot be a greater irony than the Minister of Agriculture of the UPA being the President of the BCCI. I hope that, in a follow-up article, Mr. Sainath will focus on how the UPA is complicit in all the fiasco surrounding the Cricket Incorporated.
Nice Article. Keep up the Good work "The Hindu".
IPL is a great source of pride for the game of Cricket when it stands in front of global games like Basketball or Soccer. But the urgency to cook the golden goose is baffling. IPL will do well without Modi or the politicians. If there is one format that could take the game beyond the 9-10 countries, it will be 20/20 and IPL showed it has the power. It is time they clean up the mess and keep up the promise.
Excellent article Mr. P.Sainath...No wonder India continues to remain poor and struggle for development...The amount of tax evaded sickens me. This will continue as long as we continue to worship IPL and keep feeding those billionaires... Kudos for writing such a bold article.
Once again, print journalism leads the way (with help from P Sainath) to reflection and careful thought while other media have gone into a loop covering idiocies of our "Page 3" set!
What a refreshing change!
A brilliant article which brings out the unholy alliance between corporate interests and politicians, using entertainers as the foil to extract money from the gullible fans. It happens in every field of entertainment, but the IPL takes the cake. This happens all over the world: in both autocractic and democratic nations. It needs to be moderated.
Excellent article, sir. The Hindu remains a legitimate print media powerhouse in these days where sensationalism is the norm for other media. Hope The Hindu will have a greater presence in north India too.
Like Cell phone opeartors all IPL must be subjected to fixed licence fee per annum. All gate collections should be taxed atleast 50%. If the spectators are still interested they can still pay the higher charges and enjoy being taken for a ride !!
One of the best articles across all magazines this year.
Good article.. Incisive in every way. I cannot digest the fact that rural India ,which feeds our country ,gets to face the power cuts, when we could find sufficient power for these " glamorous" events ..
IPL is a 4 hour relaity show. I am a Power Engineer and all that I can see is that energy being "wasted" in the form of floodlights , fuel burnt to take the 70000 fans everyday to watch this reality show etc. I live outside India and I feel that day by day our fellow countrymen are becoming more entertainment centric. To have more than 10 million TV sets on at the same time for a continuous period of 4 hours each consuming from 1000 watts on an average would make it 4 units of electricity per TV per match. So put together for a minimum 10 million TV sets, it becomes 40 million units consumption throughout India atleast. Well people would say that India is a developing country ,but looking purely from the view of the energy demand perspective , it's for sure not going in the right direction.
I am a great admirer of Sainath.
However I am not fully in agreement with the views expressed in the article.
In today's world, we have to acknowledge that urbanisation is an irreversible event through-out Asia.
With urbanisation comes material consumption, entertainment, employment generation and all the other things which are a mix of good and bad for the economy.
So instead of criticising IPL as completely useless and supporting only rural world is not the solution. My heart goes out to people who suffer in rural India without power, water and all the other benefits which urban India takes for granted. But that is an issue which will continue whether we have IPL or not.
But the positive aspect which helps the people at the bottom of the pyramid due to IPL have to be highlighted as well.
An article that exposes the other side of the IPL. Thank you sir, for making us think on these lines.
Business is business. Without business where is money for poor people? It must be allowed in competitive way in the open market. Rich people have money to buy. So what?Why one should be jealous?Poor will remain poor without businesses carried out by rich class. Class difference is being discussed since ages all over world.Arguments are both ways. The fact is every country has its own constitution to control businesses. The flaw lies in enforcing the law. Who enforces? Only politicians. They should be penalized.
Not rich people.
It is a great article no doubt. But the problem is that in a dream-chasing India, corruption is no longer a sin if you manage to have your way. Then you would be looked upon as a winner and not as someone who got it the wrong way.
Nice Article! But is the situation indeed so grim?! All this looks somewhat flimsy & surreal. True, Governments are not making money by avoiding taxes on IPL matches (& other facilities). What I don't understand is "why everyone has painted IPL (& everyone associated with it) as traitors. So, here are some honest & very fundamental questions: Last year IPL was not in India - so how much money was saved? How many poor were benefited? How much better we are not having IPL (rather than saying that how much worse having it). Every industry initially needs government support. Being a comp science graduate, I may not understand all the nitty-gritties of economics and taxes involved. It seems IPL is generating some revenue & opportunities like other sports events.
Brilliant! The only piece of writing in the whole episode worth my time, great questions asked, lets hope we get some answers for it too..
Fantastic article indeed, very well written, and I agree with an earlier respondent, The Hindu rocks! Time for a Mumbai edition?
Perhaps the problem is that we get carried away very easily , and try to get to the extremes with these glamorous ideas like IPL. There is no denial of the fact that sports and activities for entertainnment make the society vibrant and add flavour to our lives, but as a society we should also know where to draw a line. Sadly the media ( barring respected Sainath Ji & The Hindu) highlights only that part of the news which benefits them ,rather than bringing about the truth and helping people get the real picture.
Time for some reforms ( regulations) for media as they have forgot what their job is!
As always, Well done Mr. Sainath, but let's follow this up with some hard hitting numbers to substantiate the claims further. NOW IS THE TIME AND STAGE TO DO IT. I was the most piqued by the humungous consumption of electricity at a time where farmers need it the most, who are being devoured by monsanto!
Brilliantly written.
An excellent article. I was waiting for such an article for last three years. Kapil Dev had started ICL to encourage the game and bring up more talent. IPL is bringing up talent but unfortunately in other areas - nexus between business and politics, corruption etc... Looking forward for more articles on this matter exposing the IPL bare.
A good article by Mr.Sainath. IPL has commericalised Cricket to such an extent that it will be old fashioned to call Cricket a Sport any more - it is a business venture. But the ordinary Cricket fans -without whom Cricket wouldn't have become such an all consuming passion - get hardly anything in return.
That's a wonderful article on all the dark things of IPL.
All this when sports like hockey, football in India are dying without funds. Kudos to P.Sainathji for such piece. But please write more often.
I agree with most points made by Mr. P Sainath. Being a journalist from Mumbai, I am aware how the Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan has consistently defied logic and sense by not allowing taxation of the IPL. And as Mr. P Sainath has suggested, there is only so much that is the public domain, the rest we aren't even aware! High-time Indian public understands and refrains from acting like dimwits mesmerised by the entertainment icon, the so called IPL.
Sir, you are bang on target.
Excellent article.
Someone needs to call spade a spade.
I must greatly applaud P. Sainath for this great social analysis of cricket business. Leaders of the country never stood for the poor but for the rich. You have brought it so well. Continue and we will support you.
Sainath, thank you for an expression of outrage. Like last year we will see what our giant killers do when they face their peers in the West Indies later in the year.
I would feel the same way. It's not just IPL, I would personally feel that everyone wants to settle in their lives and don't even care about what we can do to this country. We drive in cars, we eat in big restaurants but don't care about people begging outside the very same restaurants. I don't say that we should give away and start living in a hut but at least think about how much we can spend in every rupee we earn.
Dear P Sainath, I'm a long-time fan of yours and often quote you in my conversations. I'd like to say the IPL is not necessarily a bad thing in itself. In fact, we could encourage the establishment of world-class Indian leagues for other sports as well. The recent state-organised Punjab-style kabaddi "World Cup" is a case in point. (Punjab-style kabaddi is different from the national style, the most notable difference being that the player combat in it is one-on-one. In the national style, any number of players can take on one.) The event drew on-ground audiences in lakhs (yes, lakhs) and raised clamour for a full-time league in Punjab, with the best players drawn from across the world. Similar club leagues managed by expatriate Indians run successfully in the UK, the US and Canada. The IPL, for all its naked commercialism and other drawbacks, has shown the way in this direction. The attendance at stadia and TV ratings show how much demand there is for good outdoor as well as indoor entertainment. People probably can't be kept satisfied with mindless TV soaps, "reality" shows, "music videos". Your point about electricity wastage isn't very sound because electricity is bound to be consumed copiously for commercial purposes. Of course, it should be charged for heavily. People in my town, Mohali, rejoice every time there's an IPL match over there because that day there are no power cuts. The power situation in Punjab, believe me, is on a par with that in the areas you mention. Electricity availability ranges from 3-12 hours a day at most places. Any fraud in the IPL must be exposed and punished. But how the new team buyers will manage to break even after having paid such monstrous amounts should not worry us. They are businessmen and have taken a calculated risk, so good luck to them. Of course, they can't ensure good returns-on-investment largely by way of fraudulent means. Let the cricket IPL flourish. May the IPLs for other sports too emerge and draw the world's best talent. But surely, the state must end any freebies and rather tax the properly.
Great article. I think the media specially Television changed the thinking capacity of cricket fans...we really don't think what's happening.This article is answer to that..Good work Sainath, The Hindu
One journalist that dares to ask the questions and tells it like it is. Thank you, P. Sainath and the Hindu. I loved the no-holds barred way you have written. I totally agree ....I think it's amazing and obscene, the hype, the money spent, and the tax subsidies and freebies which no one knows much about, just to profit a handful of people when that money could have been used for real rural development. (Did anyone read a small article in the Hindu by Harsh Mander on rural poverty and hunger..it made me cringe and cry).
It's all the more sad that the ranting anchors on TV channels never ask the right questions or report news responsibly. Just being concerned about 'Impropriety' is a laughable understatement when there are much larger concerns about the IPL and how it works. But who cares and who listens. It's all about the mindless madness of watching the stars, cheerleaders under the floodlights and doing the 'in' thing with token gestures of environmental concern.
Great analysis and very intelligent comments Sir! For a person who is just a cricket lover like me, I think I don't much realise what goes around the game. But thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Indeed these power-plays will exist, in any popular enterprise, let alone IPL. As for the energy requirements, more should be produced than siphon it from events like these. An authority should definitely tax the owners, players, advertisers and all those making capital gains through this format. When a simple professor is taxed nearly 40 percent of his income it is just wrong that those who have the capacity to pay real figures of tax not pay in those percentages. Yes the media should do its duty of covering all aspects of the IPL so that public raises its voice.Of course we are living in a democracy right? We should make it work.
Sir, a nice article at the right time.
Astonished to see so many comments. Cricket indeed does affect our lives, but with so much of cricket around, and specially after the IPL, sadly I have lost complete interest in the game.
An excellent, thought provoking article from the author as usual. Hats off to The Hindu for maintaining the culture of journalism.
Can't find this article anywhere else.
Hail - The Hindu
One of the best articles I've read till date! Sir, I really salute your astute analysis and hope that this article is read by all the "cricket fans". The people of India need to wake up from their surreal existence and come to terms with reality. The worst part is very few people seem to care... and those who care neither have the means or the mettle to actually make a difference.
Well said and an excellent article. The Hindu always stood apart from the fully-commercialized media. IPL has always been a wolf in sheep's clothing. Only a tip of the iceberg is revealed yet. We can see tonnes of scams in the coming days. Besides everything, an average Indian is amused and entertained well.
Thank You Sainath , for once again pointing out that none of our emperors have clothes! It is a crime in this country of starving millions to pile subsidy and subsidy upon the rich and famous...and then for us to also suffer the ignominy of seeing these people get photographed with the poor for their mandatory " helping the poor" ... It is so bad that I hate to open a newspaper or switch on a TV channel!
Journalism at its best, keep the good work "The Hindu".
Can't agree better than what's written by Mr. P.Sainath.
Cricket is one such game which has caused much damage than being a "just" leisure game by "gentlemen". Only few good men like Kapil Dev have understood this well.
People should read/circulate this article and start considering Cricket as only a game for physical exercise but not a money minter (read as laundering)for media/ business houses/ netas/ actors.
sir
its a good article.
thats true, indian premier league vs india paisa loot !
Thank you God for P Sainath. Sir, your conscience is to be saluted.
Sainath,
But for a few like you,what would have been the condition of Indian Media?Long Live!
Very well researched and written by Sainath, Hindu is always and will remain my favorite newsprint.
Once again , another well written article by P Sainath.
Kudos to "THE HINDU" for providing this space. There is at least one newspaper which is still alive to the needs of the poor Indian
Keep the good work. We Readers will always be behind "The Hindu"
Well said and straight forward atricle. Poor becomes poorer day by day and Richer becomes richer day by day. One losses to other who live a lavish life. People are suffering for daily food, stay, power etc... but these matches / party goes on with full facilities and protections. May be the moeny earned should be spent for the needy which should be the goal for such kind of entertainment. This may lead to a long way to get achieved.
Great article! Against a backdrop of utter poverty (see excerpt below) , the leadership(?) of India decided to focus on providing tax breaks to Billionaires?. Are the Indians earning less than $1.25 a day any less human or less Indian?
A hundred years from today when China has joined and established it self among the ranks of the industrialized world , will India still still be struggling with poverty. I would say yes. This poverty is of our own making and a direct result of the utopian democracy created by our leaders (Gandhi and Nehru included) to enrich and engorge the rich and the powerful in India. Luckily for China, Mao did not go to England for his higher education and as a result China will not have to suffer through such meaningless democratic experiments where a majority of the population are disenfranchised and left in abject poverty.
"Poverty in India is widespread with the nation estimated to have a third of the world's poor. According to a 2005 World Bank estimate, 42% of India falls below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day (PPP, in nominal terms Rs. 21.6 a day in urban areas and Rs 14.3 in rural areas); having reduced from 60% in 1980.[1] According to the criterion used by the Planning Commission of India 27.5% of the population was living below the poverty line in 2004–2005, down from 51.3% in 1977–1978, and 36% in 1993-1994[2]"
At a time when parts of the country is reeling under war like situation between Government and people, mainly due to poverty and underdevelopment, the IPl run by billionaires and millionaires is getting government subsidies is a case in point that shows the lack of sense among our political leadership. If India has to advance it needs a better leadership from the current crop of corrupt and morally bankrupt people.
Sir, this is yet another hard hitting and truthful article. I do hope it gets widest coverage during these heated discussions on all the murkiness around IPL. I believe alternative voices likes yours are invaluable.
In Solidarity
This article is 3 years too late to raise all these questions. First of all media should make it clear that cricket in India is represented by a private club called BCCI and it is not like Hockey or other poor sports which are in the hands of the Government. As long it is a private enterprise (BCCI) they are free to do what ever they like, even it becomes under the sports ministry nothing will change, except that the beneficiaries will be through a different channel.
Kudos to Hindu team for this thought provking (indeed enraging) article, especially at a time when it is unfashionable to criticize the new religion of indian (m)asses called "Cricket". The present day scenario of our nation, where on one side there is religiously fanatic terrorists and poverty exploiting maoists and, on the other side the greedy dollar billionnairs and their cronies in politics with no real concern or time for the nation and its poor subjects, only reminds one of the famous saying of Winston Churchil about India winning freedom. He had said something like "if it happens that India gains freedom, it will be run over by goons". Is there any difference between what he had said and what is happening today. Does our politicians and MPs have any guts to take on these greedy and corrupt powers? Does any one still believe that Gandhigiri will help us salvage from the goons? What one wishes and yearns, as a concerned citizen and a lover of the idea India, is that "if someone like Netaji takes avatar (incarnates) and help us free from these forces who are not true friends of the idea India".
Great article. It could be greater if you could some specifics like how much electricity spent on each game, what are the other freebies these ipl is getting.
A very true and correct presentation of facts, but of no use. This is India; everything will be brushed under the carpet. All the same cheers to a great article.
Dear Sir: You are right on target with regard to the gravitas of the problem, which is the impact on the general public and murky dealings by those in power. As a New York-based investment banker, I have had the opportunity to interact with a couple of the owners and learn of the huge tax breaks availed, not just from the IPL but from their other ventures. What was extremely ironic is that I had discussions with several of these senior-level Indian industrialists regarding a charity focused on the indigent in rural India - their interest-levels ranged from scant disregard to lukewarm, while middle-class NRIs and school-children in the US were giving meaningful ongoing contributions. In any other country, the consitution of the IPL and the BCCI's banishing of the ICL would itself be questioned - now that the IT Department is deeming the BCCI and the IPL to be "for-profit" ventures, Mr. Subash Chandra and the ICL have all rights to challenge the monopolistic diktat of the BCCI and the various impediments they have instituted on "rebel" players and this league - in fact, this league was not Mr. Modi's brainchild as he claims it to be, but a stolen idea.
The other key issue about players' focus and priorities is equally important - players such as Andrew Flintoff have deemed the rapacious greed of the IPL to be more important than playing for country, a sea-change from the Barringtons of yesteryears who proudly stood for the Union Jack and for country. Combine this with the excessive fines levied on players and captains for slowing the over-rate and you bring in another dimension into scope - the importance of commercial TV revenues over the need for a team to think strategy, regain momentum. The implications of this on players' physical fitness levels, the injuries they would sustain and the impact this has on their availability to play for country - all these take a backseat.
In short, the IPL is one of the most vile creations that has to be constitutionally exposed for its financial implications and stopped at the earliest.
Clearly we need less of cricket and entertainment as a whole. Dalai Lama recently said that Indians are lazier than the Chinese. He is right. There is an overdose of entertainment, especially after IPL. IPL grew too powerful to even snub elections. Cricket should be limited to just 2 days of match per month.
Sir,
You have hit the nail on the head regarding this great hoax called IPL
which is very wrongly being compared to the great sporting leagues in various countries (i.e) Football (EPL,La Liga etc etc) NBA,NFL,NHL etc etc.These organisations are very professionally run and headed by responsible professionally qualified people.The team ownerships are very transparent and even when a single share is exchanged ,it is reported unlike the hoax in IPL.Your article deserves a prize similar to the Pulitzer. Please keep up the excellent exposure.
It is indeed bad and also sad that the elites of our country are being given monetary consessions while the steep price rise in the past couple of years is killing the poor. This is just another example of our government and even the opposition being servile to the interests of big business for which the much more obviously compelling and genuine needs and aspirations of the large majority of our people are being ignored. So many people belonging to our middle class are addicted to cricket and remain blissfully ignorant of almost everything and idly continue watching the show.
Very nice presentation on the present (sordid) state of affairs. A balanced opinion, like this one, from media is a welcome step. Otherwise, media (both print and electronic) is full of crap. On one hand you have people fighting for their rights (and justified development) and on other you see millions going in to the coffers of those who already have - and media playing at their tunes. Quite frequently, media's role is being questioned these days. By presenting the stories (or paid stories) from one section of society, media is not playing its role. I wish India has many newspapers like "The Hindu" (and if there exist any newspaper close to it in the region then it is "Dawn"...from Pakistan). Unfortunately, such newspapers do not reach the masses in rural areas.
And what about our leaders? We are hardly left with anyone whose picture can be part of our drawing rooms or houses.
Very well articulated article....
Kudos for the very pertinent and well articulated questions. Impropriety and narcissism is pervasive not just at IPL.
Great piece, keep it up.
Well written by Sainath, as always. Millions of Indians share this viewpoint, but it seems only a Sainath is there to say it openly. And only 'The Hindu' to permit it. Never ever let this spirit down.
Congrats to an intrepid journalist!
What an eye-opener article! IPL is more about show than substance - just like the Bollywood.
The article is an eye opener to every Indian. Whole affair of IPL is a luxurious marriage between our passion for the game and the professional tactics of business tycoons. We must be very conscious and make our fellow men conscious by widely circulating such articles.
Well written Sainath!
Rightly said. I don't want to sound idealistic but in this country where half of the population is under 2 dollars per day this money can be used for better purposes.
Where there is a flow of huge money there definately will have irregularites and corruption. In India it is the rich becoming the rich. Wealth is concentrated in a few pockets when the majority of the population are reeling in poverty. So there should be specific laws for the limitation of wealth of citizens.
Excellent article..but lacking in facts. It would have been great if the author had mentioned the amount of concessions/subsidies have been bestowed upon these billionaires.But something is fishy: how can somebody expect to be in profit after investing close to 500 crores for team and your operating expenses run into 10-20 crores per match? Something somewhere is making this whole IPL thing profitable (and its not advertising alone). I guess income-tax department is the right authority to reveal the truth.
Sir
I agree with your point that our country is deficit in funds for poor but that does not mean those with money also start living a life of complete abstinence so that the money saved can be used for uplifting poor above BPL. My point is IPL is successful because a common man wants it for his "Entertainment". And any successful and popular game will be chased by money,advertisements,corporates,celebrities and list goes on. What I suggest is there should be taxes, no subsidies, more transparency and still if you can make it grand, IPL is more than welcome!
It's a shame that IPL controversy has taken such a nasty turn. The points regarding the evasion of taxes are well argued. After all it's an out-and-out business proposition and should be taxed proportionately.
How about some more concrete examples of how the public money is being used to promote private profits?
The article clearly shows us how the UPA Government is supporting the rich and punishing the poor.At this rate,soon the Maoists will invade the cricket pitches to show their resentment. There is no logic in all these tax concessions when even Senior Citizens in their evening of their lives are taxed heavily. Fuel, a primary requirement for all economic activity,is taxed so heavily and indirect taxes are breaking the back of "aam admi".
Excellent article. As citizens what can we do to stop this mania at a time where there are more burning public problems? As rightly pointed out the political parties have their own interests.
Sir, a very timely article. You have raised important issues which go beyond the Tharoor-Modi spat. Media which is supposed to guide, has hidden-agenda in every one of its reporting. Most of the print and electronic media have lost credibility. Many more issues, apart from the above listed ones, will crop up if IPL continues to run the way it's run.
IPL cricket can not only provide some good entertainment but also can stimulate the metro economies by creation of local jobs and stirring up the consumption demand. It no doubt is good. So is capitalism. As ever, the problem is the ugly nexus between the political class, bureaucrats, and corporate world.
Excellent analysis as usual by P Sainath.
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