IPL ticket muddle remains unresolved
Sparks didn’t fly at the CAB special general body meeting on Tuesday. Sensing the mood, the ruling group was forced to go by the opinion of the majority on hosting of the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. The “frank and cordial discussion”, as president Prasun Mukherjee put it, lasted close to two hours and left everyone happy and satisfied. The ticket impasse, though, remained unresolved. The presence of former president Jagmohan Dalmiya did add to the opposition firepower. A total of 87 of the 109 affiliated units present supported the opposition’s demand on distribution of grant and in the end, they had their way. It, however, came through with a rider. Seventy per cent of the grant will be put into a fixed deposit and the annual interest generated from it will be equally distributed among the 121 units. The members agreed to this formula, as proposed on the floor, to prevent any misuse of funds. Dalmiya said this amount was needed to build the infrastructure and groom future talent. “If the Ranadeb Boses and Manoj Tiwarys decide to leave the state to play for an Elite team in the forthcoming season, the grooming at the grassroots has to be perfect or else we will never get promoted in the next few years.” There was confusion about the grant amount though. Prasun Mukherjee had announced that it would be Rs 10 crore but on Tuesday clarified that it was just a verbal assurance from the BCCI. The documents presented at the meeting showed the grant to be Rs 7 crore. There was no guarantee on the balance of Rs 3 crore as the IPL profits would be known only in September, the CAB president told the members. The ticket issue, however, remained pending. Mukherjee has been given the responsibility of negotiating with Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd on a reworked plan where the CAB will get around 70 per cent of the total seats. Dalmiya proposed that the franchise owners couldn’t force the 80:20 distribution ratio on the CAB since the Eden’s capacity was much more than other stadiums. “You cannot compare an apple with a banana,” Dalmiya said. “Five of the eight stadiums have a capacity below 45000. According to the ratio, the franchise owners at such venues will be getting around 36000 tickets. So let Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd be satisfied with a similar number of tickets here too. We have to remain flexible but in no way can they remain adamant on 80 per cent share. This will ensure that the members (life, annual, associate and honorary) get to watch every match,” Dalmiya said. Asked when this would be sorted out, the former president said: “Let him get some breathing space.” The members, though, unanimously agreed on the hosting of matches at the Eden. “We all want the IPL to be held here. But the interest of affiliates and members have to be kept in mind,” Dalmiya said. “The CAB has spent crores on Eden. Now somebody can’t suddenly come and take advantage of that. If they don’t agree, we can’t help. We can only say sorry,” he added.
source: google news http://www.curentnewsaffairs.com http://blogs.mindbodynsoul.com Tags:blogs: ticket CAB Dalmiya General match president stadiums |
