Poll
Modi Must be Removed from the IPL commissioner
INNER VOICES 21.2
SHUBHCHINTAK 20.2
🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: S8 - M41: New Zealand vs Pakistan🏏
•• Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2 ~ Chat Club #2 ••
🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 M40: AUS vs OMA at Pallekele🏏
O Romeo emerges a FLOP
Shahid Kapoor Questions Credibility of Critics
Kriti Sanon Rashmika As Lesbian Couple In Cocktail 2
Gift of Giving: A Creative Writing Contest: WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT
Kalyug ka Parshuram ~ Shivprasad Deshmukh || Neil Bhatt AT
Cricinfo staff
April 13, 2010
| ||
| Related Links News : Concerns over revelation of Kochi ownership details News : Pune and Kochi unveiled as new IPL franchises Players/Officials: Lalit Modi Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: India |
The controversy over the revelation of the Kochi franchise's ownership details has taken a new, and possibly more serious, twist with ramifications beyond the IPL and the BCCI. In the past 24 hours Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, has written a strongly worded letter to the IPL commissioner Lalit Modi criticising his decision to make public the ownership details, while Shashi Tharoor, a minister in the Congress-led federal government and a moving force behind the Kochi bid, has responded to charges of a conflict of interest by calling it an "extraordinary breach of all propriety" by Modi designed to discredit the franchise.
For his part, Modi is reported to have responded to Manohar's letter by saying his revelations on Twitter were "in no way a breach of confidentiality". He went on to say that the Kochi franchise had "a lot to hide and as such have lied about who are the actual owners of the shares."
"I have minutes of what they [Kochi franchise] said at the meeting. And, in fact, when I questioned who the shareholders were, they had no answer," Modi wrote. "They said they would revert back. Within minutes of me asking the same, I got a call from Shashi Tharoor asking me not to ask about who these shareholders are. You [Manohar] had mentioned that we should ignore who this owner is, but our condition requires us to authenticate who they are.
"I am happy to disclose all the facts at the next governing council meeting. As regards not raising it at the time of the tender - we didn't have the foresight to go through the voluminous documents attached to verify each and every shareholder. As regards many other things I have said on my Twitter account, they have actually not been any classified information. It's factual and only something we have or would have put into the public domain."
In his letter, as reported in the Times of India, Manohar chided Modi for revealing the stakes of Kochi's owners, saying the BCCI was a body that "functions in accordance with its constitution" and not through the media.
"The issue, if any, could have been discussed at the governing council meeting and that action on your part of raising it on Twitter is unbecoming of you as a chairman of the a sub-committee of the board. Your action is in serious breach of the confidentiality clause in the agreement," Manohar wrote. "Till date, you have made public statements about a lot of issues which were not even discussed in the meetings of the governing council when it is the governing council which has the authority to take decisions with regard to each and every issue related to IPL."
Tharoor's part in the story stems from his relationship with Sunanda Pushkar, one of those listed by Modi as having free equity in the Kochi franchise. While media reports suggest they have plans to marry, Tharoor in his statement referred to her as someone he knew well but said there was no material gain from it. He said he had "neither invested nor received a rupee for my mentorship of the team' Whatever my personal relationships with any of the consortium members, I do not intend to benefit in any way financially from my association with the team now or at a later stage."
Tharoor said the consortium's successful bid in the March 21 auction "upset the plans of a lot of powerful people, who had wanted the franchise to go elsewhere". He said various attempts were made to pressure the consortium members to abandon their bid in favour of another city in a different state.
He also denied Modi's charge that he had called the IPL commissioner and asked him not to probe the ownership structure. He had called Modi, he conceded, but "only to ask why he was further delaying the approval of the franchise when all the legal requirements had been fulfilled".
Following is the official statement issued by Shashi Tharoor
1. A consortium led by Rendezvous was set up to bid for an IPL team. They approached me for help and guidance. I steered them towards Kerala. Rendezvous includes a number of people, including many I have never met, and Sunanda Pushkar, whom I know well.
2. My role in mentoring the consortium included several conversations with Mr Lalit Modi, who guided us through the process and presented himself as a trusted friend.
3. The consortium bid successfully in an open and transparent process. Their unexpected success upset the plans of a lot of powerful people, who had wanted the franchise to go elsewhere.
4. Various attempts were made by Mr Modi and others to pressure the consortium members to abandon their bid in favour of another city in a different state. Mr Modi raised assorted objections to the bid documents but finally had no choice but to approve them.
5. His extraordinary breach of all propriety in publicly raising issues relating to the composition of the consortium and myself personally is clearly an attempt to discredit the team and create reasons to disqualify it so that the franchise can be awarded elsewhere.
6. Contemptible efforts have been made to drag in matters of my personal life which I do not intend to dignify by commenting on them.
7. However, I deny Mr Lalit Modi's allegation that I called him during his meeting with investors in the Kochi consortium in Bangalore on Saturday night in order to press him not to question the composition of the consortium.
I called Mr Modi to ask why he was further delaying the approval of the franchise when all the legal requirements had been fulfilled. Mr Modi had held up approval by the IPL of the franchisee agreement earlier in the day, by insisting on the reversal of a change in the document that he himself had earlier suggested. This change was made, the consortium members flew to Bangalore and met with Mr Modi after that night's IPL game for what they had been told would be a routine exercise. Instead they were submitted to a barrage of questions which led some to suspect that Mr Modi was seeking a further excuse to delay approval. This was the reason for my intervention with Mr Modi. Had he conducted himself in good faith throughout, no call would have been necessary.
8. On the question of my interests in the franchise, I repeat that I am proud to have helped the consortium come to Kerala. I have neither invested nor received a rupee for my mentorship of the team. Whatever my personal relationships with any of the consortium members, I do not intend to benefit in any way financially from my association with the team now or at a later stage.
9. A Kerala IPL team is a dream of many young people in and from the state. It has the potential to bring great material and psychological benefits to Kerala's economy and society. The unethical efforts that have been made by Mr Modi and others to thwart the Kerala franchise which had been won fair and square in a transparent bidding process are disgraceful. It has been clear for some time that the real motive is to assign this IPL team elsewhere than Kerala. All of us in Kerala hope that the BCCI will not permit statements and activities which seek to discredit the Kerala team before it has even had a chance to prove its worth. The public attempts by Mr Modi to besmirch the consortium in fact bring the IPL itself into disrepute.
This statement is issued by me in a personal capacity to respond to the allegations made against me personally.
Dr Shashi Tharoor
^Everybody knows Modi is making hell lot of money through these auctions!!! but Mr.Tharoor also making news for all wrong reasons. I have not read a good news about him...I think IPL means two things: money and Fame.... nothing about cricket. hence better to get back to national cricket.😊
Sports
Kumkum Bhagya
