COMMENTARY

Not Cricket :

"What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?" – that is how Trinidadian Marxist and noted cricket writer C L R James had commented on the deep interweaving of cricket with imperialism and racism. The remark takes on a new significance with the controversy unfolding in the IPL – where corporate profits, corruption, betting, Bollywood and other externals play a far greater role than the sport itself.
The controversy erupted when the IPL Chairman Lalit Modi accused former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor of misusing his office to further the interests of a commercial enterprise run by a close friend, who had received a whopping 19 per cent 'sweat equity' worth Rs. 70 crores in the consortium which secured the franchise for the IPL's Kochi team for no discernible services rendered. The accusation, however, brought Lalit Modi himself under the scanner. An IT department investigation was revealed to be in the possession of the government for several months, that exposed Modi's involvement in black money, money laundering, betting and match-fixing in cricket. According to the report, Modi was a failed businessman in his pre-IPL days, but post-IPL, he now enjoys a sumptuous lifestyle – with a private jet, a luxury yacht and a fleet of luxury cars. Moreover, the entire controversy exposed the intricate and shady nexus between politicians, corporates and cricket.
The BJP and other opposition parties have made use of the episode to put the UPA Government in the dock over the charges of cricket-related corruption against one of its Ministers. The UPA Government has sought to contain the damage to its credibility caused by Tharoor's involvement by ensuring that Tharoor steps down as Minister, and by ordering an enquiry into the IPL. But Tharoor is not the only UPA leader nor by far the only politician to be implicated in the murky world of commercial cricket, nor is the BJP itself free of such taint.
Lalit Modi himself is known to be close to the BJP as well as NCP leader and UPA Minister Sharad Pawar, who is former BCCI President and a member of the IPL governing council.
The intimate embrace of politics and cricket is not confined to the corruption and open advocacy by powerful politicians and Ministers of corporate and commercial interests in the cricket industry. The IPL enjoys public resources to the tune of crores, in many guises – waiving of entertainment tax, concessions in land leases, stadium rentals and security, and many other waivers and concessions. The full extent of these write-offs is shrouded in as much secrecy as are the particulars about shareholding and ownership. These enormous concessions for the corrupt commercial bonanza like the IPL is in contrast to the Government's policy of understating poverty and cutting down on food subsidies even in the face of evidence of severe and widespread hunger and soaring prices of food and essentials.

The situation calls for a sharp line to be drawn between sport and commercialisation, as also between politics and Government and commercial interests. Any probe into IPL must ensure full transparency regarding funding, sponsorship and ownership – and the Indian people must assert that public funding and political patronage of a corrupt corporate carnival in the name of cricket is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.