Jan. 13: The IPL of 2009 has come under sharp scrutiny of a Parliamentary Committee which has questioned BCCI’s decision to extend bank guarantees worth $13 million to foreign players allegedly without RBI nod, which amounts to violation of the foreign investment norms.
The BCCI top brass, including president Shashank Manohar, secretary N Srinivasan and IPL commissioner Chirayu Amin, were grilled by the Parliamantery Standing Committee on Finance, which quoted reported findings of the Enforcement Directorate that the permission of RBI, as required under FEMA, was not taken for extending bank guarantees, according to sources.
The Committee confronted the BCCI officials with the “findings” that the board had extended 72 guarantees amounting to $13,437,143 to foreign players, assuring them of paying the base fee irrespective of the outcome of the bids, the sources said.
The BCCI top brass was asked as to who took the decision for extending the bank guarantees to the players for the IPL T20 series held in South Africa and whether any any responsibility has been fixed in the matter. The Committee sought details of the expenses incurred on the conduct of the second edition of the Twenty20 tournament in South Africa in 2009.
IPL was held in South Africa following a clash of dates with the general elections in India. Based on the lines of the English Premier League (EPL) and the National Basketball League (NBA), the IPL was introduced in India in 2007. Afterwards, its founder Commissioner Lalit Modi fell out with his cricketing and political bosses and was forced to quit the BCCI.