April.27 : That the Indian Premier League (IPL) had a murky underbelly was not exactly an official secret. Yet when Lalit Modi’s tweet sparked off a chain of circumstances that led to the resignation of Shashi Tharoor, and Mr Modi’s eventual suspension — and which may still claim more victims — few could have imagined the manner in which the nexus between politics, business, sports and entertainment would get exposed in a heady cocktail of sleaze and scandal.
Even as this story plays itself out with daily disclosures of dubious deeds, almost a decade after tales of betting and match-fixing had tarnished the reputations of many cricket stalwarts, one can only hope that henceforth some transparency would mark the affairs of a game that obsesses millions of young people in this country and across the world.
Who remembers Garfield Sobers and Anju Mahendru? Cricket and cinema always had a connection. But when a third “C” — cash — is added, the combination is a sure-fire route to a fourth “C”, corruption.
That Mr Modi was not exactly an exemplar of probity and corporate social responsibility was known to many, and they were not just insiders. More than a year ago, in March 2009, Alam Srinivas and T.R. Vivek wrote a 200-page book that was titled IPL Cricket & Commerce: An Inside Story (Roli Books). The February 16, 2009, issue of Outlook carried a cover story with a headline that read: “The Curious Case of Lalit Modi”.
Did Mr Modi realise that he would open a can of worms when he sent his infamous tweet about the ownership pattern of the Kochi franchisee and the sweat equity that was proposed for Sunanda Pushkar? Did the leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party, notably Union minister for agriculture, food and consumer affairs Sharad Pawar and civil aviation minister Praful Patel, anticipate that the business links of their family members would consequently be scrutinised through the microscope of the media? After Mr Tharoor and Mr Modi, who will be the next fall guy?
The $4 billion IPL tournament was touted by its cheerleaders — not the busty blondes from Central Asia and other parts of the world — as a shining example of the maturing of the post-liberalisation economy of the country, and a successful brand promoted by India Inc. that was coping better than the corporate sectors in most recession-hit Western nations. The problem was that the glittering IPL edifice was built on a foundation of money routed through a complex web of companies, many of them registered in tax havens, and was excessively dependent on the munificence of influential politicians who control sports bodies that are registered as non-profit-making societies but are flush with funds obtained from the public at large. The most notable example of such an organisation is, of course, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
That various government agencies should be providing tax concessions and subsidies to the cash-rich BCCI is nothing short of a crime in a country where the latest official estimates indicate that more than one out of three people live below the poverty line. Why should the BCCI and the IPL be eligible for the kind of tax breaks that it has received so far? How much longer should the BCCI be allowed to operate in a brazenly non-transparent manner? Should the most-affluent of sporting bodies in the country be allowed to function like a closed club where only the privileged few are permitted entry? These are rhetorical questions for the answers are all too obvious.
The fact that IPL match tickets have been sold for Rs 40,000 per person with an all-night party in a five-star hotel thrown in for good measure, is a manifestation of the kind of conspicuous consumption that the elite in India has acquired notoriety for. Is this really the kind of “brand” or “business” that makes us hold our heads high in the comity of nations?
The Income-Tax Department, the Enforcement Directorate that oversees foreign currency transactions, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (all of which come under the ministry of finance) as well as the Intelligence Bureau (which comes under the home ministry) have been providing detailed reports on a daily basis to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, even when he was in Brasilia. Official investigators were initially focused on the Kochi affair and then switched their attention to Mr Modi and his associates. The Central Bureau of Investigation may soon be asked to jump into the fray.
However, at least one investigator confided to this correspondent in private that he and his team were unsure about how deep they should dig, about how the compulsions of coalition politics would play themselves out.
The Congress may now find it easier to keep its ally in Maharashtra on a tighter leash. After facing flak for his inability to control food inflation in general, and sugar prices in particular, the agriculture minister and his protégé, the civil aviation minister, may find themselves more on the defensive — or, to use a more apt analogy, on the backfoot.
Yes, the IPL has graduated to have becoming the fourth largest sporting event of its kind in the world. But the filth that has been flung around has hardly enhanced India’s image across the globe. Who knows? Being an incorrigible optimist, one might be tempted to believe that some good may even come out of this muck-raking, more than what took place in the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal. Mohammed Azharuddin is a Congress Lok Sabha member of Parliament. Mr Modi could now actively consider a career in politics.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta is an educator and commentator
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
