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Bad business?The Dhoni - Rhiti sports connection


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Table of contents

Dhonis conict of interest

Why the BCCI should investigate Dhonis business interests 04

Dhonis two options: step down or sell his Rhiti stake 06

Azad, Maninder, Laxman blast Dhoni over Rhiti Sports 08

From Dhoni to Bansal, its convergence of interests all around 09

Rhiti sports and Arun Pandey

How Dhoni fuelled Arun Pandeys meteoric rise 12

Small-time cricketer to Agent Arun: Who is Dhonis best friend? 13

Im not with Rhiti Sports, says RP Singh after Dhoni buys stake 14

Dhoni doesnt have a stake in the rm: Rhiti Sports 15

What does this mean for Indian cricket?

Dhonis tangled web and the show me the money culture 17

Indian cricket has nothing to do with Indians, or their aspirations 19

Faith of 90 percent fans shaken after spot-xing, betting scandal: CNN-IBN poll 21
http://www.firstpost.com/


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Dhonis conict of interest


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Why the BCCI should investigateDhonis business interests

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is arguably the

biggest corporate brand in India. Yes,Sachin Tendulkar might have some-

thing to say about that, but he doesnt play allthe formats of the game now and wont evenplay the IPL starting next season. In the years tocome, Virat Kohli might give Dhoni some com-

petition.

So Dhoni stands above all and what has he donewith this domination?

Well, for starters, according to an EconomicTimes article, a 15% stake bought by Dhoniearlier this year in the sports marketing rm(Rhiti Sports Management) that manages himhas spawned a tangled web of business associa-tions, raising issues of propriety and conict ofinterest in at least two situations.

Dhoni buying a stake in the sports marketingrm that manages him is not wrong in itself.But when the rm also manages Suresh Raina,

The Indian captains decision to buy a stake in the

sports management rm that handles his team mates

careers seems to be a conict of interest. But the

BCCI isnt doing anything for now.

Ashish Magotra, June 4, 2013


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Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh a host of issues crop up.

As Firstpost had pointed out in October 2011:

Many were surprised by Rudra Pratap Singhscall-up for the tour of England. The left-armseamer arrived looked well-rested and plumpand even though the selectors tried hard, they

just couldnt hide the fact that he was clearlyunt.

So how did he get into the squad? Of course,it helps if the skipper (Dhoni) likes you but ithelps even more if you are managed by the samecompany that manages Dhoni. The manage-ment company, Rhiti Sports Management, is inturn run by Arun Pandey Dhonis childhood

friend and manager. Its all in the family, if youknow what we mean.

Shockingly, Anurag Thakur, joint secretary ofthe Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)told Economic Times that he had never heard ofthis allegation.

I have heard it for the rst time, said AnuragThakur. If there is a concern, we may look into

the matter.

Whether Thakur acknowledges it or not, thereis concern. But the BCCI seems like it wouldrather sit back and wait for some scandal toforce their hand.

In July 2010, when Dhoni was seeking a newcontract to manage his career he didnt go witha veteran marketing rm. But instead, he went

with Rhiti Sports and his friend Arun Pandey.Dhoni signed a three-year deal with Rhiti Sportsfor Rs 210 crore, or an average of Rs 70 crore a

year, the highest ever in Indian cricket.

According to the Economic Times, in 2011-12,the latest year for which numbers are availableand the rst full nancial year of the deal, RhitiSports recorded revenues of Rs 63 crore and anet prot of Rs 2.5 crore.

The report adds: The shares were allotted atpar value, which means Dhoni paid Rs 3 lakhfor the 15.1% stake. (Check out the charts be-low)

Basically put, he got them pretty cheap/ How-ever, while the BCCI has chosen to procrasti-nate acting on it, some voices of opposition havealready spoken out.

I have come to know through various sourcesand newspapers that Dhoni has 15% stakes inRhiti Sports which is contracting a few play-ers in the Indian team. He also has a position

of Vice President in India Cements. So I dontknow if its a conict of interest or not that Imsure the board will tell us, former India crick-eter Kirti Azad said.


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Dhonis two options: step down

or sell his Rhiti stakeFor the moment, the BCCI has put the issue on the

backburner. But doesnt Dhoni have his own con-

science to answer to?

FP Sports, Jun 5, 2013

Why does Mahendra Singh Dhoni notfeel the need to clarify anything?From poor eld settings to lack of

intent to bad management practices?

Well, one might argue that like BCCI presidentN Srinivasan, he too feels he is innocent of allcharges. So in his mind, he has done no wrongand that means he doesnt need to answer anyquestions. But that seems far from the harshtruth.

After the Economic Times broke the story aboutthe Indian skippers 15 percent stake in RhitiSports, the sports marketing/managementcompany responded with a statement to clearthe air.

As on date, MSD holds no shareholding inRhiti Sports Management (P) Ltd. However, itis made clear that shareholding was allotted to

MSD on 22.03.2013 only to secure certain oldoutstandings which were due for more than oneyear.

Further, the payments were cleared in April

2013 and the shareholding was transferred backto promoter of the company on 26.04.2013,Rhiti Sports chairman Arun Pandey said in thestatement.

But even though Dhoni holds no shares in thecompany, Pandey and Dhoni continue to be

business partners, and that basically means thatthe conict of interest remains a very distinctthreat for the Indian captain and for Indiancricket on the whole.

Dhoni still has a stake in Rhiti MSD AlamodePvt Ltd 65 percent (for Dhoni and his wifeSakshi), 30 percent (Arun Pandey) and 5 per-

cent (Rhiti Sports).

Former India opener Chetan Chauhan has saidit was ethically not correct for Dhoni to havestakes in the company, which manages him.

Ethically this is not correct. It seems to betrickling down from the president. The Boardofcials need to take some harsh decisions andmake it clear what business the players and of-

cials can oat of their own, he said.

VVS Laxman felt that the Indian skipper shouldsell off his shares, if he had any, as it could drivehim into a compromising situation.

When such a problem arises, stakeholdershould come out of the company by selling hisshares off. I think that can solve all the prob-lems at one go, he said.

As things stand, Dhoni has two clear choices.His only choices.

1. Step down. Once he steps down as captain, he


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cant inuence team selection. The conict ofinterest talk will die down.

2. Sell his stake and disassociate himself fromRhiti Sports in every way possible, which is

what VVS Laxman has suggested. And he gets tostay as the captain of India (god knows we needhim there.)

The Boards interim head Jagmohan Dalmiya,however, said that he couldnt comment on theissue till further details were ascertained.

I havent gone through the matter yet. Cantcomment until I have full knowledge of thefacts, Dalmiya told The Indian Express.

BCCI vice-president Niranjan Shah said: As ofnow, all we have are media reports. We will dis-cuss it in our next meeting. Dalmiya will decide

when is the next meeting. First we have to ndout if at all theres a conict of interest. If we areconvinced, only then will we ask the them (thecompany) to submit the papers.

So for the moment, the BCCI has put the issueon the backburner. But doesnt Dhoni have hisown conscience to answer to?

Then again, in this day and age, what good is aconscience


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Azad, Maninder, Laxman blastDhoni over Rhiti Sports

VVS Laxman felt that the Indian skipper should

sell off his shares, if he had any, as it could drive

him into a compromising situation.

PTI, June 4, 2013

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hascome under sharp attack from some formercricketers for his alleged conict of inter-

est for having stakes in the sports management

company, which handles him and three of hisIndian teammates.

Dhoni found himself in a controversy when itcame to light that he had 15 per cent stake inRhiti Sports, which also manages Suresh Raina,Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha, besides theIndian captain.

However, the rm has made it clear that Dhoniwas a shareholder only for a brief period, and

currently has no stakes.

But former Indian cricketers and sports man-agement executives feel that Dhoni should notput himself in such a position where questionscould be raised about a possible conict of inter-est.

Obviously, the documents that have come outindicates that it has been a conict of interest

as far as Dhonis involvement with Rhiti Sportsis concerned, former cricketer Kirti Azad toldPTI.

I dont mind if an ex-cricketer is acting as anagent for a living. But when I see Pragyan Ojha

being relegated to second choice left-arm spin-ner suddenly and Ravindra Jadeja being valuedat USD 2 million after being banned for tryingto cut underhand deals in IPL, I guess some-

thing is wrong.

Also if the company didnt have sufcientmoney, how did they issue shares and paid it

back, Azad pointed out.

Another former cricketer Maninder Singh alsofelt if the captain indeed had shares it was a

clear case of conict of interest.

But who do you expect to stop the rot when theBCCI president has gone against everyone whohas stood up for the gamebasically the presi-dent has been saving the captain who is also

vice-president in his company, he said.

Former India opener Chetan Chauhan said ethi-cally it was not correct for Dhoni to have stakesin the company, which manages him.

Ethically this is not correct. It seems to betrickling down from the president. The Boardofcials need to take some harsh decisions andmake it clear what business the players and of-cials can oat of their own, he said.

Madan Lal said that it was not proper for Dhonito have stakes in the company but did not thinkhe could manipulate team selection.

There is no question that if it is true, there is aconict of interest, he said.

VVS Laxman felt that the Indian skipper shouldsell off his shares, if he had any, as it could drivehim into a compromising situation.

When such a problem arises, stakeholdershould come out of the company by selling his

shares off. I think that can solve all the prob-lems at one go, he said.


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From Dhoni to Bansal, itsconvergence of interests all around

Scam after scam has demonstrated that conict

of interest is at the heart of corruption andmis-governance in India.

Abhay Vaidya, June 4, 2013

After a thick-skinned BCCI allowed thecontinuation of N Srinivasan as presi-dent inspite of damning conict of in-

terest issues, it is cricket star Mahendra SinghDhoni who is the latest to be tainted by the

same stigma that is all-pervasive in the country.

Zero tolerance to conict of interest is a basicprinciple of good governance and best manage-ment practices. This is the same principle thatdisallows intra-ofce affairs which disgracedex-iGate CEO, Phaneesh Murthy, as much as itapplies to corruption.

Everyone understands this principle but fewcare about it, especially in India, where con-

vergence of interest is what rules and conictof interest is taken as lightly as breaking trafcrules.

In the light of the latest expose in The Eco-nomic Times, Dhoni has some explaining to

do with regards to his interests in Rhiti Sportswhich was managing him and four other crick-eters, two of whom (Suresh Raina and RavindraJadeja) were members of his own team, Chen-nai Super Kings.

Look at most cases of corruption and irregu-larity and you will nd a nexus of politicians,

businessmen and bureaucrats at work, with orwithout the involvement of their relatives. Thisopportunity to lustfully feed ones greed is what

gives precedence to convergence of interestover the ethical considerations that arise outof conict of interest issues. Scam after scamhas demonstrated that conict of interest is atthe heart of corruption and mis-governance inIndia.Just as our system is tolerant of bad/rash/negli-gent driving even though serious accidents andfatalities occur from time to time, conict ofinterest is not considered a serious aberrationto begin with till such time that a scam breaksout and surfaces before the public. This samecycle repeats again and again because Indiansare tolerant of convergence of interests.

Look at the numerous instances in which thiswas at work in the BCCI and the IPL which arenow under the spotlight. In the latest case ofthe IPL match-xing and betting scam, it is onlynow that questions are being asked about howand why did the BCCI chief Sharad Pawar grant

permission to Board member N Srinivasan toown a team. A January 2008 letter establisheshow Pawar, on the advice of other BCCI mem-

bers, allowed India Cements to participate inthe bidding process for IPL teams. All was wellfor Pawar, Srinivasan, the entire board, themedia and others till CSK team owner and son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappans arrest for alleg-edly placing bets through alleged bookie VindooDara Singh. No one raised a hue and cry about

the exception being made to favour Srinivasan.

Conict of interest was at the heart of theBofors scam when investigations revealed thatthe Italian middleman in the scam, Ottavio


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Quattrocchi, was a close family friend of SoniaGandhi with unrestricted access to the Gandhihousehold.

There was no sign of former Union railwayminister Pawan Kumar Bansals resignation fora week after his own nephew was arrested whileaccepting a bribe of Rs90 lakh to allegedly xa lucrative posting for a senior railway ofcial.

As in the case with Srinivasan, the argumentoffered was that there was no evidence of cor-ruption by Bansal himself and therefore it wasnot necessary for him to resign. The sudden,meteoric growth achieved by rms belonging toBansals relatives after he became the railwayminister, and allegations of railway cateringcontracts doled out to his relatives or their closefriends,were not enough to sack Bansal.

The Adarsh Housing Society scam originallysurfaced in 2003 as a news story of buildingregulation violations and allotment of ats tonon-Kargil war heroes. The allotment of mul-tiple ats to politicians, bureaucrats and theirrelatives had been approved by the Maharashtragovernment unmindful about about conict ofinterest issues.

Incidentally, the biggest controversies aroundPawar are those arising from a conict of inter-

est. Take the 2010 IPL controversy when thePune-based construction rm City Corporation

with 16.22 percent stakes from the Sharad Pa-war family made an unsuccessful bid for an IPLfranchisee. Although documents revealed thatCity Corporations managing director Anirud-dha Deshpande had made a Rs1,200 crore bidfor an IPL team on behalf of the company, thePawars and Deshpande later claimed that the

bids were made in Deshpandes personal capac-ity and were not authorized by the company.

Pawar has had to do a lot of explaining over theLavasa Lake City controversy where this megahousing project in Pune district had question-able links with his daughter and son-in-law andpeople known to be a part of his inner circle.

While explaining his point of view, Pawar has

never cared for the principle of conict of inter-est and glossed over the issue by saying that heand his family members have a legitimate rightto participate in a legitimate business activity.

One of the positive fallouts of the IPL scam isthe attention it has focused on issues of badgovernance and conict of interest issues in In-dia. It has forced India to come face to face withhow thick-skinned we are on matters of conict

of interest.


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Rhiti sports and Arun Pandey


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How Dhoni fuelledArun Pandeys meteoric rise

Journalists know for a fact that Dhoni places anincredible amount of trust in Pandey, and all his

deals go through him. However, how deep

does this relationship run?

FP Sports, June 5, 2013

A

run Pandeys claim to fame so far hasbeen being MS Dhonis agent and best

friend. His innocuous looks and rareappearances are even more deceptive. But rufea few documents and do some research and heturns out to be a director in over a dozen com-panies.

An Economic Times report lists Arun Pandey asadditional director or director in the followingcompanies.

- Kaimur Minerals Private Limited- Rhiti Entertainment Private Limited- Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited- Rhiti Talent Management Private Limited

- Rhiti MSD Alamode Private Limited- Rhiti Media Private Limited

- Rhiti Infrastructure Private Limited- Rhiti Venture Private Limited- Rhiti MSD-N Motorsport India Private

Limited- Rhiti Charitable Foundation- KSS Rhiti Infrastructure Private Limited- Rhiti Vishwamedia Private Limited- Sportst World Overseas Private Limited

And all this has happened between 19 April2012 and 26 March 2013 a phenomenal rise

for Pandey, a former Ranji Trophy player fromUttar Pradesh who lived the life of a nobody un-til he snapped up Dhoni as a client in his sportsmanagement rm. Also, you cannot help butone name pop out of everywhere Rhiti.

Those days he used to get Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 3crore per brand. Now he gets Rs 10 crore Thetotal then was Rs 40 crore. Now more than Rs100 crore, Pandey was quoted as saying once in

media reports.

Journalists know for a fact that Dhoni places anincredible amount of trust in Pandey, and all hisdeals go through him. However, how deep doesthis relationship run?

Click here for the fullEconomic Times report.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/the-rising-pandey-started-10-companies-in-2012-alone/articleshow/20437763.cmshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/the-rising-pandey-started-10-companies-in-2012-alone/articleshow/20437763.cmshttp://www.firstpost.com/


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Small-time cricketer to Agent Arun:

Who is Dhonis best friend?What Srinivasan overlooked is that his franchises

captain Mahendra Singh Dhonis best friend andmanager Arun Pandeys omnipresence that managed

to raise a fair number of eyebrows.

PTI, June 4, 2013

Just after the spot-xing scandal broke out,the BCCI working committee discussedat length about a necessary clamp down

on players agents and president N Srinivasanspoke about the need to provide accreditation toagents.

What Srinivasan overlooked is that his fran-chises captain Mahendra Singh Dhonis bestfriend and manager Arun Pandeys omnipres-ence that managed to raise a fair number ofeyebrows.

As he manages a lot of India players with the

star draw being his best buddy Dhoni, a lot ofcricketers and ofcials jokingly call him Agent

Arun.

When BCCI talks about players maintaininga distance from their agents during cricketingcommitments, a small-time left-arm spinnerPandey, clad in Chennai Super Kings practicegear was rolling his arm over at the Feroze ShahKotla nets in 2012.

This was prior to Delhi Daredevils IPL homegame against the Chennai Super Kings. Pandey,

who certainly wasnt a part of the support staff,was seen bowling for close to 45 minutes.

Pandey came in touch with Dhoni when heplayed a couple of matches for Bihar in the earlypart of last decade. The friendship strengthenedas Dhoni, who was then cutting his teeth in

rst-class cricket used to come to Delhi to playHot-Weather tournaments and often stayed atPandeys place.Once Dhoni became a megastar in Indian crick-et, Pandey reaped the dividends in the reectedglory of the Indian captain. So much so, that heeven appeared in a television commercial for acement brand along with Dhoni and RP Singh.

When Pandey reportedly signed Dhoni for awhopping amount for his company Rhiti Sports,it instantly grabbed eyeballs as no one knew

what Pandeys locus standi was in terms of man-aging players and their nances.

RP Singh might have severed professional tieswith Rhiti now, but those who covered the RanjiTrophy match between Uttar Pradesh and Rail-

ways at Mohan Meakin ground in Ghaziabadin 2011, saw Pandey come with a huge birthdaycake at the end of the days play.

The cake was cut at players makeshift diningarea and it was supposed to be exclusively for

the players and ofcials. No one questionedabout what an outsider was doing there as thematch was still on.

Pandeys claim to fame in cricketing circles,courtesy Dhoni, has come fast but the skippernow faces some uncomfortable questions sincethe suspicions of conict of interest has croppedup.


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Im not with Rhiti Sports,says RP Singh after Dhoni buys stake

A newspaper on Monday reported that Dhoni has a

15 per cent stake in the company, which, the report

claimed, manages R P Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra

Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha.

PTI, June 3, 2013

P

acer Rudra Pratap Singh on Mondaydenied being managed by Rhiti Sports,

the rm in which Indian cricket captainMahendra Singh Dhoni has a 15 per cent stake,raising questions of a possible conict of inter-est.

A newspaper on Monday reported that Dhonihas a 15 per cent stake in the company, which,

the report claimed, manages R P Singh, SureshRaina, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha.

Interestingly, all these four players are partof the same IPL franchise, the Chennai SuperKings, which is also captained by Dhoni.

Dont know what exactly is running in the newsbut just to clarify I am not with Rhiti Sports,tweeted RP Singh after the report came out.

R P Singh has played 14 Tests and 58 ODIs forIndia. He has taken 40 wickets in the longerformat and has 69 scalps in the one-dayers.

He has been out of favour for some time and hasnot played a Test or ODI since 2011.

Rhiti Sports is owned by Arun Pandey, a closefriend of Dhoni. In 2010, Dhoni signed up withRhiti reportedly for Rs.210 crore, an average ofRs.70 crore a year, the costliest deal in Indiancricket.


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Dhoni doesnt have a stakein the rm: Rhiti Sports

It was reported in the media that Dhoni has a 15 percent stake in Rhiti Sports which also manages Suresh

Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha, besides the

Indian captain.

PTI, June 3, 2013

T

he sports management rm that manag-es Mahendra Singh Dhoni today claried

that the India skipper holds no stake inthe company, putting to rest speculations abouta possible conict of interest.

It was reported in the media that Dhoni has a 15per cent stake in Rhiti Sports which also manag-es Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and PragyanOjha, besides the Indian captain.

However, the rm made it clear that Dhoni wasa shareholder only for a brief period, and cur-rently has no stake: As on date, MSD holds noshareholding in Rhiti Sports Management (P)Ltd. However, it is made clear that sharehold-ing was allotted to MSD on 22.03.2013 only tosecure certain old outstandings which were due

for more than one year.

Further, the payments were cleared in April2013 and the shareholding was transferred backto the promoter of the company on 26.04.2013,Rhiti Sports chairman Arun Pandey said in astatement.

In 2010, Dhoni signed up with Rhiti Sportsreportedly for Rs 210 crore, an average of Rs 70crore a year, the costliest deal in Indian cricket.

We at Rhiti Sports Management Pvt Ltd aregreatly aggrieved at the widespread mediareports regarding alleged conict of interest ofMSD. Though not obligated to but in order toput at rest these widespread speculations, weare issuing the following statement to bring inknowledge the correct factual matrix. It is madeclear that the Management of Rhiti Sports Man-agement (P) Ltd understands its obligations tothe eld of sport and the country and adheres tothe laws of the land, he added in the statement.

Interestingly, two of these players Raina andJadeja are part of the same IPL franchise, theChennai Super Kings, which is also captained byDhoni.

Ojha had joined Rhiti Sports during Australiaslast tour of India.


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What does this mean for

Indian cricket?


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Dhonis tangled web and theshow me the money culture

Compared to the egregious levels of corruption we see

in every sphere of public life, Dhonisconict-of-interest failing may seem a minuscule

impropriety. But its tragic every time a hero trades

enduring fame for tainted fortune.

Venky Vembu, June 5, 2013

T

here is an old-world charm to the nar-rative that today binds cricketing star

Mahendra Singh Dhoni to Arun Pandey,the man whose sports management rm RhitiSports is in the spotlight following reports of atoo-close-for-comfort relationship with Dhoni.

Evidently, in early 2010, when the sports man-agement contract to manage Brand Dhoni was

due to expire, some of the biggest names in thebusiness, some of them with pedigree lineage,lined up for Dhonis custom. These included

World Sports Group, IMG, Percept Group, PMGSports (promoted by Sunil Gavaskar), PurplePeople and Planman Consulting.

All of them made heavy-duty powerpoint pres-entations to Dhoni, and doubtless promised

big-money endorsements to the then newly-wed

Dhoni, who already had claimed the status ofIndias most valuable sportsman.But having heard them out, Dhoni in the endplumped for Rhiti Sports, a low-prole com-pany owned by Pandey, based on the relation-

ship that the two men traced back to the time,more than a decade ago, when Pandey bowled

to Dhoni at the nets.

Stories of upstart Davids slaying Goliaths al-most always have a feel-good quality to them,and this one was no exception.

In media narratives, Pandey comes acrossas very personable a desi version of JerryMaguire, the eponymous sports agent characterplayed by Tom Cruise in the 1996 lm. Dhoni

perhaps did not ask Pandey to show me themoney (in the way that Cuba Gooding Jr doesin the lm), but there was evidently no need forhim to. Rhiti Sports signed him on for a Rs 210crore contract for three years.

Theres nothing evil about a gifted sportsmanwho has earned his spurs signing on for meg-abucks endorsement contracts. But its obviousthat somewhere along the way, the moral com-pass that presumably steered Dhonis career

path onto fame and much fortune has becomemore than a little disoriented.

Nothing else can account for the incestuous re-lationships he has entered into, where his crick-eting and his business interests overlapped tosuch an extent that it has become increasinglydifcult to untangle the interlocking circles. Ofcourse, its true that this happened in an ecosys-tem where the tolerance for conict-of-interest

situations was very high as BCCI president NSrinivasans own affairs reveal.

But the maze that Dhoni navigated is trulybyzantine. Not only was he the captain of the


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Indian team (whose administration vests inthe hands of Srinivasan), he was also gainfullyemployed in India Cements, the company thatSrinivasan owns. India Cements, in turn, ownsChennai Super Kings, the IPL franchise thatDhoni captained.

And, as the latest revelations show, he brieyhad a stakeholder interest, along with Pandey,in the sports management rm that also man-aged others who play for the Indian and the IPLteams whose cricketing fortunes were decided

by Dhoni as captain for both the Indian and theIPL teams!

True, Rhiti Sports has put out a claricationclaiming that Dhoni was allotted 30,000 sharesin Rhiti Sports for just a little over a month in

lieu of a Rs 3 lakh payment that was due to him.But the whole explanation only raises morequestions that suggest that an artless attempt tocover the tracks is under way.

As this report points out, it beggars belief that aRs 63.5 crore company that had liquid assetsof Rs 42.5 lakh couldnt rustle up Rs 3 lakh topay Dhoni and instead allotted him 30,000shares evidently as collateral. The whole trans-

action was reversed a month later, but every-thing from the valuation of the shares to theatmospherics of the deal give sufcient cause tosurmise that its all not quite cricket.

In any case, as has been established, Dhonisbusiness links with Pandey go beyond just RhitiSports. Dhoni and his wife Sakshi are share-holders, along with Pandey, in at least three

other companies Rhiti MSD Alamode PvtLtd (which manages Brand Dhoni), Sportst

World Overseas Pvt Ltd (which manages gyms)and Rhiti MSD-N Sports India Pvt Ltd, whichpromites motorcycle racing.

The lings in respect of these companies pointto an overlap of interests between Dhonis roleas cricketing captain and his interest in advanc-ing his business, which is the classic denitionof conict of interest.

There is nothing whatsoever to suggest thatDhoni doesnt give every drop of his blood,sweat, toil and tears every time he steps out onthe playing green. Indeed, on countless occa-sions, he has played beyond himself and ex-cept for a particularly bad patch last year has

proved a phenomenally successful captain.

No fair-minded person will, therefore, grudgeDhoni his megabucks endorsement fees. He hasthoroughly deserved them.

But in allowing his business interests to inter-fere in his cricketing world, in a manner thatopens him up to the charge that he put himselfin a blatant conict-of-interest situation, Dhoni

has fallen from the stately pedestal on which hiscricket fans have put him.

Its true, of course, that compared to the egre-gious levels of corruption we see in every sphereof public life, this probably seems like a minus-cule impropriety. But its tragic every time ahero trades enduring fame for tainted fortune.


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Indian cricket has nothing to dowith Indians, or their aspirations

Its time we redeemed ourselves from this private

enterprise of vested interests, which is replete with

self-breeding conicts, called Indian cricket.

G Pramod Kumar, June 4, 2013

The alleged conict of interest of MSDhoni that shocked the country on Mon-day following BCCIs autoclean-farce in

Chennai the previous day make it absolutelyclear for the nth time that Indians are fools ifthey think Indian cricket has anything to do

with them, or their aspirations.

The developments also make them realise thatit is a prot-driven private enterprise run by a

highly exclusive club of private interests thateffectively feeds off millions of Indians, many of

who probably go to bed hungry.

Its muscle and might come from the blind fol-lowing of these millions, including the 400-oddmillion who make up billion-dollar TV rights,and their sheer loyalty to everything that thecricketers do and say.

In return, they get matches in which bowlerssell an over for Rs 40-60 lakhs to underworldcriminals; a captain who can have multiple

business interests that directly conict with thebasic ethics of the game and the principles of

its conduct, and a Board president who has anintricate web of conicting interests besides ason-in-law who allegedly likes to make somemoney on the side by betting on the same gamethat his father-in-law and captain-friend aremanaging.

Its bizarre that this is the same game that peo-ple are crazy about.

Thirteen years ago, when some of the big namesof Indian cricket were involved in a match x-ing scandal and many cricketing greats wereseen washing dirty linen on spy-cam, we were

shocked. The dirty deals, the dubious links ofsome super-stars and the amounts of moneydiscussed were disgusting; still we went back tocricket because we were told that a few rotteneggs dont besmirch a glorious game.

We were also made to believe again and againthat cricket was a national game and the crick-eters were upholding the prestige of India. Thatmade us follow Dhoni and company as demi-

gods because we believed that they were ournational property. The national and state gov-ernments also treated them like heroes givingthem tax breaks and massive cash awards.

But whenever there is a crisis, like the oneunfolding over the last three weeks, and we askquestions on accountability, they turn aroundand say that they are not accountable to us oreven the government because they are managed

by BCCI, which is a private body.

Even as it operates on countless governmentconcessions and public trust, BCCI is totallyimpervious to our simple questions on govern-


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ance and probity because it is not a governmentbody. They dont care even if the sports ministerasks them questions. That is precisely why MSDhoni will get away with his alleged promo-tion of a few team-mates, and the BCCI with itsunquestionable ways, while similar allegationsagainst minister Shashi Tharoor had cost himhis job.

Therefore, if the BCCI says that it is a privateentity, and cricketers, both past and present,take cover behind its privateness, lets alsoconsider it as a private entity which is driven bymoney.

Its time we redeemed ourselves from this pri-vate enterprise of vested interests, which is re-plete with self-breeding conicts, called Indian

cricket.

The method for this redemption is de-nation-alisation. It may sound ironical how a privateenterprise can be de-nationalised. The answeris: if we cannot nationalise Indian cricket, letsdenationalise it because it has been masquerad-ing as a national institution to merely exploit itsattendant privileges.

Here are seven simple steps for de-nationalisingIndian cricket

1. The Indian cricket team should be pre-vented from commercially exploiting the titleIndia and the national ag.

2. Immediately recover the few hundred crorerupees that the BCCI owes the Income Tax de-partment. According to this Indian Express re-

port, it owed Rs 373 crore for 2009-2011 alone.The department expects the gures to multiplyseveral times once the assessment for the periodof 2010-11 and 2011-12 are nalized, the reportsaid. In the past, BCCI enjoyed IT exemptionowing to its charitable veneer.

3. Revoke the Rs 45 crore tax concession givento ICC for the 2011 World Cup. Dont give anymore concessions and exemptions to ICC or any

other national or international cricketing body.

4. Revoke all the concessions on the real estate stadiums, ofce space etc and exemptionsof local taxes, if any, enjoyed by the state cricketassociations that are afliated to the BCCI.Charge a premium for police, security and traf-c arrangements.

5. Immediately take action on the recommenda-tions of the Parliamentary Standing Committeeof Finance (38th Report) on issues such as: vio-lation of tax laws, service tax evasion, violationof FEMA provisions, violation of companies actetc and bring to book those found guilty.

6. Declare IPL as entertainment and tax accord-ingly.

7. Make the ndings of the Standing PublicCommittee on BCCI/IPL public.

In the following paragraph taken from theStanding Committee report, BCCI presidentSrinivasan appears embarrassingly apologetic

when he speaks of Lalit Modi:

We were taken for a ride. I know we cannot

plead before you that we did not know all thiswas happening. Your question would be, wereyou not vigilant; what did you do? I am sorry,Sir, unfortunately, there was too much of powergiven to him. Sir, answer to one question, washe above the IPL at that time? The powers givento him were like that and that is how he acted. Itis no defense for me to say that some of us ob-

jected to it. What defense? No defense in frontof you. So, I am not pleading that at all. We just

put our heads down.

But when it comes to his own turf, he gets de-ant and self-righteous while the vice presidentof his company and the captain of Indian teamsmirks at the media.

Indian cricket in the present form is not worthour time and money.


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