LALIT MODI STATEMENT ON RCA ISSUE

Mr. Lalit Modi President of Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) has welcomed the amicable solution of the stalemate in RCA management. In a statement issued here Lalit Modi has expressed satisfaction that good sense prevailed amongst constituent members and all differences have been buried. The time that was wasted could have been put to valuable use for betterment of cricket. I have a vision for Rajasthan Cricket Association both for infrastructure development as well as cricketing activities in the state which I would accomplish with the full support of the association. 

With regard to the pending issues with BCCI the statement said that since the people holding responsible positions in BCCI are sensitive to the needs of cricket and young cricketers we look forward to an amicable resolution of all issues.

ON CHRIS CAIRNS ISSUE

I am aware of the verdict at Southwark Crown Court. As you know I am limited in what I can say as I am restricted by the injunction put in place following the 2012 libel trial. I will consider how this affects my own civil claim against Mr Cairns in due course.

SALUTE THE INDIAN JUDICIARY                                    

I clearly remember the way I envisioned the Indian Premier League to be... it was to be a larger than life, world-class platform for players to perform their art — show their mettle, their love for the game. Having experienced the workings of the BCCI, where the staff that managed the sport lacked expertise in hosting tournaments of an international stature, I pressed upon having only professionally qualified personnel run the show.

Now after nine years, I feel a sense of relief. The honorable Justice Lodha committee has almost conferred a seal of approval to my proposition by making it mandatory that only a team of qualified professionals can be responsible for managing the Board.

For the money that's coming in and the revenue streams created over the years, the management of the sport was stuck in a time warp. Consider this, BCCI, the richest cricket board in the world, appointed its first-ever CEO only a couple of months ago?

I clearly remember how in 2005, when we were voted to power under Mr Sharad Pawar, we promised toning up the administration, appointing full-time CEO with a strong management team. We commissioned Tata Consultancy Services to furnish a blueprint for a structural revamp. However, due to a number of roadblocks (no names!) we could not fulfill our promise.

When it came to implementing the IPL, I was clear that appointing a full-time staff with a qualified COO was the only way forward. This team, led by the COO, worked in tandem with the best sports and event management company in the world, the International Management Group (IMG). For me this was the best way to ensure that IPL was delivered as a world-class property without any hassles.

However, all that has happened since then has not only devalued the sport, but also stifled growth of the most popular tournament.

Most of this relates to the way the management structure operates. The issue of conflict of interest has dogged Indian cricket for long. It also created numerous hurdles in the IPL growing as a property. Fervent appeals to put an end to the menace of spot fixing in the IPL yielded no response, that’s when the Supreme Court was forced to step in.

Now, almost like a tribute to the first management team of the IPL, the Justice Lodha Panel has recommended sweeping changes. The onus is on keeping the administration fresh and young with a focus on growing the game. That is exactly what the focus of the IPL management in the first few years was; before the rot set in. The IPL was India’s only truly global world class property. An envy of many. We created avenues for corporates to invest in different aspects of Indian cricket.

Instead what we have had in the last few years is a number of our valued sponsors and partners walking away from the sport. There have also been issues with broadcasters, not to forget the mounting court battles.

Earlier, there was a sense of accountability in the way the entire machinery functioned. The entire management team of the IPL was answerable to the BCCI working committee led by the experienced Mr Pawar. They asked us searching questions, gave suggestions and helped us with valuable advice through the early years.

Now thanks to the Supreme Court this system is being institutionalised.

The biggest aspect of the recommendations is the way in which the highest court of the land has mandated that at a time you can hold just one post. We have seen what can happen if only one man is allowed to don a number of hats. You do not need to look beyond Srinivasan and the destructive effect he had playing the one-man army game.

Today, the other office-bearers are bearing the brunt because none heard my plea of pushing for a change. The change which now has been forced upon Indian cricket.

The IPL governing council became almost a rubber stamp as a number of decisions like scrapping of teams like the Deccan Chargers was taken at the behest of one man. It was always going to be dangerous but no one seemed to see the writing on the wall.

 The Lodha panel has rightly put the players at the forefront of the whole process. I remember in 2011 when I suggested that Rahul Dravid be tasked with handling cricket operations, there were a lot of guffaws. Today the same Dravid is leading the way by guiding the second string side and the juniors. We were one of the first to involve three former Indian captains in the IPL governing council. They helped us with their inputs and played a great role in raising the bar of the tournament.

Now after the sweeping change cricketers will be involved in every aspect of Indian cricket. Today, I feel proud to see most of my suggested measures being institutionalised by the law of the land.

There cannot be a better feeling when there is acknowledgement...well almost, of the systems put in place by one.

In the end of course however, the might of the law prevails!

WATCH LALIT MODI'S INTERVIEW WITH RAJDEEP SARDESAI  

QUIZ: HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW LALIT MODI?

BUZZFEED: LALIT MODI'S ACHIEVEMENTS

MEET N SRINIVASAN: THE MOST CORRUPT BCCI PRESIDENT EVER

READ: MODI'S OPEN LETTER TO THE MEDIA

READ: LALIT MODI INTERVIEW IN THE OPEN MAGAZINE

FOR THE MISINFORMED MEDIA 

OPINION OF HON'BLE MR  JUSTICE SINHA (RETRD)

STATUS ON 16 SHOW CAUSE NOTICES : ALL COMPLETELY REPLIED

1. SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ON INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT GROUP (IMG) ISSUE

• MY REPLY ON IMG ISSUE  | SUMMARY
  
  

2. 11 SHOW CAUSE NOTICES ON SOUTH AFRICA ISSUE

• MY REPLY ON SOUTH AFRICA ISSUE | SUMMARY
  
  

3. SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ON PLAYERS ISSUE

• MY REPLY ON PLAYERS ISSUE | SUMMARY
  
  

4. 2 SHOW CAUSE NOTICES ON PERFORMANCE DEPOSIT ISSUE

• MY REPLY ON PERFORMANCE DEPOSIT ISSUE | SUMMARY
  
  

5. SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ON SONY ISSUE

• MY REPLY ON SONY ISSUE | SUMMARY

Note:

1. In 2010, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started various investigations pertaining to BCCI- IPL. After investigations, the ED issued 16 show cause notices (SCN) on merit - 1 show cause notice on IMG contract issue, 11 SCN on conduct of IPL 2 in South Africa, 1 show cause notice on giving of guarantees to foreign players, 2 SCN on acceptance of performance deposit from foreign bidders, and 1 show cause notice on IPL Media Rights issue.

2. Mr. Lalit Kumar Modi has filed his reply on merits to each of the SCN issued by the ED.

3. On merits, in none of the SCN issued by the ED, any personal misdemeanor of Mr. Lalit Modi was found. Rather, Mr. Modi has been arrayed as a co-noticee with the aid of Section 42 of FEMA, which provides for vicarious liability merely because he was Chairman of IPL . 

4. In those investigations, it was apparent that  Mr. Modi had no financial powers or cheque signing powers,  which vested with the Secretary and Treasurer of BCCI, and  had no role to play in any outward remittance. Consequently, no foreign exchange violation has been done by Mr. Modi.

5.    In effect, the ED has found that the responsibility in BCCI was collective rather than individual and the allegation made by BCCI that Mr Modi was acting without authority was not true and in effect discarded by the ED.

6.    The copy of  show cause notices on IMG issue, SA issue, players issue, performance deposit issue, and Sony issue are annexed as Annexure 1 to 5 respectively. The copies of replies of Mr. Modi to these notices are annexed as Annexure 6 to 10 respectively.

7.    The  brief tabular form of the various SCN issued by the ED are set out as under:

TIME FOR A NEW WORLD CRICKET ORDER!

The world of cricket is crying out for help. There is distress all over the world. England cannot manage one man, Pakistan cannot manage its entire cricket, and West Indies don’t know how to keep themselves together. On the other hand, South Africa is grappling with issues of race, Sri Lanka with government interference, and India with corruption.

From the brazen power grab by the BCCI, CA, and ECB aimed at further filling their already overflowing coffers to the marginalization of the associate and affiliate nations, the custodian of our sport under the stewardship of demon-in-chief N. Srinivasan is slowly but surely guiding our beloved game to its death!!!

Where the sport should be expanding, playing a bigger role globally, it is stagnating. When the sport should be embracing new countries like China and the Americas, the ICC is seeking to marginalize them.

The most high-profile threat to the established order has come from Subhash Chandra’s Essel Group. It was a venture, I was involved with. I walked away from it because I do not promise to deliver what I know I cannot. A promise of confidentiality forbids me from shedding more light on this ambitious project, but as ambitious as I think his venture to be, I believe it poses a very real threat to the ICC’s monopoly on world cricket.

The sport currently lacks the right sort of leadership. We still don't know what will happen with the next World Cup, don't know the future of Test cricket, and of course of the developing world. The so-called governing body – ICC has failed, leaving world cricket in a state of chaos and confusion.

A recent classic example of their failure is the talk around the Champions League T20 being shut down. Now, this was a tournament that should have been conducted by ICC rather than by BCCI, but they simply did not have the vision. They are too pre-occupied with a cosy tax-free life.

It required a visionary like Mr Sharad Pawar to back the idea for BCCI to push it forward. Mr. Pawar saved world cricket of embarrassment by making ICC have a rethink on the number of associates in the 2015 World Cup, or else we would not have seen Ireland beating England and West Indies.

A complete overhaul of the system, starting with the ICC is thus, the need of the hour. Cricket needs a new world order and a new set of people, who will govern and administer with passion!

The ICC and its current set of directors, including N Srinivasan are happy to chug along without making a change to the way they operate. They have all got into a comfort zone from where they don't want to come out. The perfect example of this is the ICC Annual General Meeting being held in Barbados next month. Instead of spending petro-dollars on a fancy meeting away from Dubai, they could have very well stayed on in the Gulf, met, and dispersed. This is the sort of money that could have been paid to the players in the less-fancied cricket playing nations.

After all, let's be clear we are all here because of cricket and cricketers. Without the sport and players, administrators are no good. Nepal, an associate country has suffered one of the worst natural disasters. Their cricketing activities have slowed down for now. But what has the ICC done for them?

Cricket can play a unifying and humane role, but clearly Ind its devil chief Srinivasan do not seem to realise this. If the ICC, governed by a handful of entrenched, vested interests who are bent on holding the sport hostage, is unable to live up to its mandate, then perhaps a new world order isn’t such a bad thing.