Published: Nov 15, 2021, 07:50 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 15, 2021, 07:50 PM (IST)
New Delhi: The American company Irelia Co Pvt Ltd (CVC Capital Partners) which recently won the rights of the newly inducted Ahmedabad team for the next season of Indian Premier League (IPL), is yet to receive the Letter of Intent from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as of Monday, according to a media report.
The IPL is set to become a ten-team affair from next season with the introduction of two news teams based in Ahmedabad and Lucknow. While the Lucknow franchise was acquired by RPSG by making a winning bid of 7,090 crore, CVC Capital Partners made the winning bid for the Ahmedabad franchise amounting to 5,625 crore.
However, questions are being raised about CVC for its business interests in betting firms in the international market.
According to past press statements issued by CVC Capital Partners, it acquired a majority stake in Malta-headquartered betting operators Tipico, which has a major base in Germany too, in 2016 after taking a controlling stake in UK’s Sky Betting and Gaming in 2014. Notably, betting is legal in those regions. But, none of these entities have business operations in India, where betting is illegal.
In the latest development, CVC’s successful bid to win the Ahmedabad franchise of the IPL has gone into negotiations with the company trying to explain to the BCCI officials that its investment in a UK betting firm, which has become a bone of contention, is not illegal.
As a result, there has been a delay in BCCI giving the Letter of Intent, which has already been submitted to the RPSG Group of Sanjiv Goenka, who has successfully bagged the Lucknow franchise.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, the top CVC officials have flown to India and to Dubai as well, to have talks with the BCCI office-bearers and officials. The legal team of the BCCI is also looking into the CVC files and there is a chance that a committee could be formed to adjudicate on the matter.
The report further stated that the bidding parties were told on October 25, when the auction had taken place in Dubai, that there may be a full-scale study of their business roots as it was not possible to go through all the papers on that day itself. The BCCI had given itself time up to December 31 for the second round of due diligence, if needed.
Meanwhile, CVC is confident that the matter will be settled in their favour. The people close to the American company claim that most major foreign companies, including one of the stakeholders of the BCCI, may have made investments in the betting companies and that is not unusual.
(With IANS Inputs)
