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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Mint-on-sunday/  Cricket’s ugly side
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Cricket’s ugly side

Cricket in India is run by people from the worlds of politics and business

Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/MintPremium
Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/Mint

Cricket is a public good; yet, like many other sports, it is managed by a small clique in a manner that is far from transparent.

It is watched by millions and it is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. There are moments when the game transcends everything else (including the commercial aspects) and reminds us of all that is good about it—purity, skill, nobility, joy—but the modern version of cricket is, more than anything else, Big Business.

India is the commercial hub of this global business and, in the country, cricket is run by people from the worlds of politics and business.

The Indian Premier League (IPL), everyone’s favourite whipping boy, may exemplify the worst of this, but the league didn’t start this trend.

Recent happenings in the league could end it, although I doubt that will happen.

What’s wrong with the IPL?

The man whose idea it was, Lalit Modi, is in self-imposed exile in London and wanted for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate over the legality of some financial transactions related to the league.

Gurunath Meiyappan, associated with the Chennai Super Kings, and Raj Kundra, co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals, have been found guilty of betting, which is illegal in India, on the outcome of matches, even those involving their own teams.

Chennai Super Kings is owned by India Cements, promoted by N. Srinivasan, who was treasurer of the Indian cricket board, which administers the league, at the time he bought the franchise. Meiyappan is the son-in-law of Srinivasan.

Three players of Rajasthan Royals were found guilty of spot-fixing (or fixing, for a price, smaller outcomes within matches).

In one of those delicious ironies that says a lot about how sports is administered globally, Srinivasan is now the chairman of the International Cricket Council.

A committee appointed by the Supreme Court last week suspended the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years, effectively banned Meiyappan and Kundra from cricket for life, and said it would soon come up with recommendations on how the Indian cricket board should function.

That will probably mean a code of governance, but will that be enough?

State-level cricket associations, even district-level ones, are dominated by businessmen and politicians.

Will that change?

And if it does, who will run these associations? Can cricketers, current and former, do so?

The Australian example seems to suggest they can, at all levels. James Sutherland, the current chief executive of Cricket Australia, is a former first-class cricketer. And Australian cricket is run a whole lot better than Indian cricket, although Cricket Australia’s willingness to go with anything the Indian cricket board suggests at the International Cricket Council is disturbing.

The beautiful game, this isn’t.

R. Sukumar is editor, Mint.

Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com.

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Published: 18 Jul 2015, 11:31 PM IST
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