The Honorable Supreme Court of India (HSCI) is finally
monitoring this game and all the people associated with it. As of today, the Chairman of the Board of
Cricket Control in India (BCCI) has been asked to step down until all inquiries
and investigation are done and Cricket is cleaned up.
Really?
The HSCI will do a good job of injecting a dose of antibiotics in this sport. However, I have my doubts
about the implementation of the HSCI directives and order. Here is why.
Indian Cricket has its administrators from the corporate
world and from the political world. Indian
politicians would kill in order to get some post or the other in the BCCI. How come Indian Politicians are not making
any attempts to join an organization, say for example CRY (Child Relief and
You)? For one, there is no money there
that can be eaten up. Two, one had to
really work hard in an organization like that.
Third, CRY is not the richest NGO in the world. The BCCI is the richest cricketing body in
the world. Here we have Indian
politicians who come to parliament only to howl like peyotes and do a terrible
job of running the country – but they still find time to manage cricket and
show world-class entertainment to the world.
Can you imagine a politician ever leaving his grasp on cricket?
It must be understood that managing in the BCCI is not about
managing cricket but about controlling the resources of the cricketing
body. A BCCI executive can influence where
the body will deposit its fixed deposits and thus do the bank a favour. The bank in return will grant lenient terms
and conditions to all finance that BCCI executive may need for his corporate enterprises. Worse, the bank may become lenient in
charging interest and penalties for the executive’s to-be-bankrupt
company. A major portion of BCCI funds
go into building stadiums and acquiring land and giving contracts for work. I leave it to your imagination about how much
of these funds go into over-invoicing the expenditures related to such
activities. While you are at it, imagine
the kickbacks too, if you would. Is it
possible for a corporate executive to ignore such a position? Are there purple donkeys in India?
Imagine your ability to ruin a person’s career. Imagine the
power you would have if you could just finish off a cricketer’s career based on
some silly “team selection committee” recommendations. Imagine your power to summon an actor or a
model and demand favours in return for appointing him/her as some brand
ambassador etc. This is the kind of
power that comes with holding a position in such an organization. This is where the dirt is and all the pigs
would love it.
How about the perks of being in the BCCI? Do you get to stay
at expensive hotels? You bet. Do you get access to world-class
cuisine? Of course. Do you get to throw junkets? Oh yeah! Can anybody stop you? No Sir!
Cricket can never be cleaned. This is not a negative statement but rather
an honest one. It is just too bloody
lucrative! The matches are all mostly
fixed. Forget all about how well your favourite
cricketer plays. The fixing racket is a
perfect example of globalization.
Rumour has it the India’s top lawyers are burning the
midnight oil in their attempt to present something that will hopefully get the
HSCI to pass a soft order. This will be
in the form of some obfuscating promises that will be riddled with qualifying
adjectives and holy ideology.
Prayer - I hope the
HSCI gives the BCCI a strong laxative and a memorable enema. We have to get all that sh** out.
Politics is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Is the BCCI the first ?
© Nitesh Kotecha
Disclaimer: By the grace of God, I have successfully avoided watching cricket since 1987. Well, maybe a few times I had to watch it at a restaurant over dinner
or at a friend’s house. Imagine the
hours I have saved in my life by staying away from cricket (while you imagine and
total all those hours, deduct one hour that it took me to write this blog on
cricket). By the way, this is my 100th
post on my blog....Thankfully, a non-cricketing century!!
