NEW DELHI: Amidst the euphoria surrounding India’s impressive run at the ongoing Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the ghost of the 2010 Delhi CWG has come back to haunt the Indian government.

UK-based satellite and broadcast firm, Sports Information Services ( SIS ), which was responsible for the global coverage of the Games through its various platforms, has written a strongly-worded two-page letter to union sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore – also a junior I&B minister – demanding an immediate payment of Rs 250 crore (£28 million), which is pending as part of its contract fee for telecasting the Games along with Doordarshan , the host broadcaster.

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SIS was the outside broadcast arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and was also involved in the international coverage of the 2002 Manchester CWG.

It’s been learnt that the letter written by SIS chief executive Richard Ames has also reached the offices of the I&B ministry and Prasar Bharati . In the letter, a copy of which has been accessed by TOI, Ames has underlined that the way SIS has been treated by the subsequent Indian governments has caused a real concern in the international broadcast sporting circles. “It’s clearly damaging to India’s standing in the international world of sports and of broadcasting,” Ames wrote.

The Games were held in 2010 from October 3-14 during the Congress-backed United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) regime.

“As the CWG (Gold Coast) are once again the centre of attention to the world’s sporting media, could I draw your (read Rathore) attention to the difficult and embarrassing fact that India has not settled its bill for the 2010 CWG in Delhi. Today, our claim (with interest to date) exceeds £28 million,” Ames wrote.

Ames stated that India’s refusal to settle bills even eight years after Delhi CWG, had given rise to a formal letter of complaint by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president (Louise Martin) to one of Rathore’s predecessors, but no payment was made.

Prasar Bharati had entered into a contract with SIS in 2009 when BS Lalli was the CEO of the government’s national broadcasting arm. There were allegations of financial misappropriation in the findings of the V K Shunglu committee report which investigated the charges of corruption in the broadcasting sector. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had launched a probe into the matter involving Lalli and then managing director of Delhi-based Zoom Communications, Vaseem Ahmed Dehlvi, who was also the resident director of the UK-based SIS Live. CBI filed a closure report in the case, citing lack of criminality on part of Lalli and Dehlvi.

TOI contacted Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati for his reaction, but he refused to comment on the issue. Sports ministry, too, remained tight-lipped about the letter. However, a source informed that since the matter is related to broadcasting rights, the I&B ministry and Prasar Bharati would be able to throw more light on the subject.

