ACSU chief was concerned over domestic T20 team owners

The mushrooming of lucrative Twenty20 leagues all over the world has been giving sleepless nights to the ICC Anti Corruption and Security Unit, which is concerned about the “lack of transparency” in the ownership patterns of the franchises across the globe. ICC ACSU chief Yogendra Pal Singh expressed these apprehensions during a board meeting in January this year. Not only this, Singh was also concerned about Cricket Australia’s bid to have internet access in the dressing room – a move that was supported by BCCI president N Srinivasan. All these discussions took place during ICC Board Meeting held in Dubai on January 29, this year. [caption id=“attachment_914551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  ICC ACSU chief Yogendra Pal Singh expressed these apprehensions during a board meeting in January this year. AFP[/caption] Singh had expressed his concern about the identity of the owners of certain domestic franchises and the manner in which they procured those teams as well as their sustenance capability. In fact, Singh’s concern is documented in the section 7.1.2 of the minutes of that particular meeting. The section titled as ‘Domestic T20 Leagues-Working Group Update’ has a portion which states, “Mr Clarke (Giles) reported that Mr Singh (Y P) had explained in a meeting the previous day that his biggest concern was in respect of the identity of the owners of certain domestic franchises, and lack of a transparent process around how those franchises had been awarded and how they could financially be sustained.” Although no specific franchise name has been mentioned in the minutes, the questions of ownership pattern and the credibility of the owners has cropped up in the cash-rich Indian Premier League as well Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and the Sri Lankan Premier League. Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra and Chennai Super Kings Team Principal and owner’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan have been suspended by the BCCI pending inquiry for allegedly placing bets on IPL matches. Another significant development during that meeting was Cricket Australia’s bid to get internet access in the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA), a move that was backed by BCCI president N Srinivasan along with Jacques Faul of Cricket South Africa. This discussion has been documented in section 9.1 of the minutes under sub-heading ‘Management Items’. It stated, “…. The Board reconsidered CA’s previous proposal to use an internet-enabled connection within the PMOA through which live performance data could be transferred into the PMOA for live use by analysts, and which would therefore constitute a technical departure from the language in the Minimum Standards. “Despite concerns raised by Mr Singh as to the ability of the ACSU to monitor the kind of system being proposed, Mr Srinivasan and Mr Faul expressed support for CA’s proposal.” PTI