BCCI in a fix Murky past in SA a reminder for board

A BRIBERY ALLEGATION WAS SLAPPED ON MAJOLA FOR RECEIVING BONUSES (FOR STAGING THE IPL) AND NON-DISCLOSURE

MUMBAI: After a snub to the government in 2009, Lalit Modi airdashed to South Africa to meet the-then Cricket South Africa (CSA) head Gerald Majola. A deal was struck within 12 hours and IPL 2 was staged with fanfare in the Rainbow Nation.

Just as the organisers were patting themselves, the government agencies came looking. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) slapped a foreign exchange violation case against the BCCI for not obtaining clearance from the Reserve Bank of India while opening an account in South Africa and alleged there had been foreign exchange loss of over `1600 crore.

The ED investigation report was submitted to its special director in November 2011 and is now under quasi-judicial adjudication.

Though the BCCI has maintained it never violated foreign exchange norms and that it had the requisite permission to do business, the past is good enough to remind the BCCI that IPL 7, which is headed out of India, could encounter similar issues.

That’s not all. A bribery allegation was slapped on Majola for receiving bonuses and non-disclosure of the same for staging the IPL matches. This eventually led to his ouster.

Probably, in the race against time, a few decisions were taken arbitrarily in 2009, and in the backdrop of those experiences, the BCCI will have to be careful this time.