MCA defends Deloitte report claims, but questions remain
While the scathing Deloitte report on state cricket associations is set to be presented before the Supreme Court on March 20, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) dashed off a letter to the Sc-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) and to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) defending the allegations leveled against them in the audit report.
The BCCI had authorised Deloitte to audit state associations accounts to ascertain any financial irregularities.
The Deloitte report stated that the MCA “allotted 19 corporate boxes of the refurbished Wankhede Stadium in 2011 without tender process; providing 4800 tickets to Garware Club for international matches at the Wankhede Stadium at subsidised rates and donating Rs 1 crore to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Drought Relief Fund without any such provisions in their bye-laws.”
The MCA has refuted all the claims made in their letter on Friday with all supporting documentary proofs.
“As far as the allotment of the 19 corporate boxes, there was a due tender process followed. We have submitted the tender advertisements published in the newspapers. We managed to get 12 to 13 applicants and for the remaining corporate boxes, the association approached several corporates with an offer and if they wished to buy it, there was a proper documentation process followed,” an MCA official told Hindustan Times.
However, though a tendering process was duly followed according to the MCA, several insiders, whom HT spoke to, are not convinced that the process was transparent. “It seemed everything was pre-decided There were a lot of loopholes in the agreement as there is no clear definition of which IPL matches the box will be allotted The agreements were also signed after the 2011 World Cup was done with,” said a member.
Regarding the tickets to the Garware Club is concerned, the source said: “We are following a 2005 Bombay High Court order If the court overturns this deci sion, we are happy to stop the arrangement.” The MCA officia also defended the association’s decision to contribute to the Maharashtra CM Drought Relief Fund in 2016, saying it is not the first time that the MCA has con tributed to any noble cause.