Earlier this year, just after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament, officials from the Goa Cricket Association (GCA) went on so-called study tours to New Zealand and England. A report in the local newspaper Goa Herald said the officials visited England to study spectator management, kit printing and ticket printing. The report added that some of the officials were also using money given to the association by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to buy cars for themselves.

Repeated calls to GCA officials seeking comment remained unanswered. BCCI is yet to initiate a probe into the issue.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case on spot-fixing in the 2013 edition of the IPL, but the case is actually about the future of BCCI’s president in-limbo N. Srinivasan, and the functioning of the world’s richest cricketing body.

It is a body that is a law unto itself, and one that makes a lot of money and, in turn, dispenses cash and favours to its member associations which actually decide who gets to run BCCI.

Not surprisingly, given their considerable power, BCCI and state cricket associations attract politicians of all hues.

“It wasn’t until television money started to flood into cricket in the 1990s that the stakes at BCCI grew sufficiently that it became a magnet for political, commercial and social ambition. And I suspect that it was at that stage that the previous generation of retainers of BCCI were swept aside by individuals with (wouldn’t say, no love for cricket), but with other agendas to advance," says Gideon Haigh, the author of Spheres of Influence: Writings on Cricket and Its Discontents.

“The state associations have grown in terms of money, so much greater, and certain of them have become more influential than others. They (state associations) long have their connections into local and national politics as well and, therefore, the state association becomes a means by which political largesse can be disbursed," he adds.

Where cash comes from

The origins of the BCCI’s financial muscle date back to 1993. That year, the body had a deficit of ₹ 81.60 lakh. Cricket became really popular in India after the Indian team’s 1983 win at the World Cup, but the state-owned broadcaster, Doordarshan (DD), held a monopoly on the live telecast of cricket matches. Back then, BCCI had to pay DD roughly ₹ 5 lakh a game to broadcast matches.

The tables turned in 1993-94, ahead of the India vs England series, when the I.S. Bindra-led BCCI sold TV rights to TransWorld International (TWI) for $600,000 a game.

A year later, BCCI overturned the deficit to become profitable by ₹ 15.34 lakh. The rest, as they say, is history. The body hasn’t looked back since.

The biggest source of BCCI’s income is media rights. In May 2012, the Rupert Murdoch-owned Star India Pvt. Ltd won the rights to broadcast Indian cricket over a six-year period for ₹ 3,851.82 crore ( ₹ 40 crore/game). The deal was split into two rights periods. For the first period (April 2012-April 2014), Star India would pay BCCI ₹ 871.02 crore ( ₹ 32.2 crore/game) for combined TV, Internet and mobile rights, while in the second period (April 2014-March 2018), BCCI would be paid ₹ 2,980 crore ( ₹ 43.2 crore/game).

As part of its deal with Nimbus Communications Ltd, which it ended in 2011, BCCI earned ₹ 32.5 crore per game.

In December 2013, Star India also successfully bid to become the sponsor of the cricket team for a three-year period (2014-2017) for around ₹ 203 crore.

BCCI’s current finances aren’t available, but the board ended 2012-13 with a revenue of ₹ 3,621.94 crore. While 60% of its revenue comes from media rights, it also makes money from the cash-rich IPL, other sponsorships (clothing, title) and tours.

BCCI earned a profit of ₹ 33.5 crore in 2001-02. Ten years later, in 2011-12, the number soared to ₹ 382.36 crore. Since then, BCCI has been the highest earner among Test-playing nations, leaving the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) behind. In 2012-13, the board posted a profit of ₹ 319.11 crore.

Though its annual accounts for 2013-14 have not been passed, owing to its much-delayed annual general meeting (AGM), the current financial health of the board is good, says Niranjan Shah, the chairman of BCCI’s finance committee. However, due to a lack of home matches and in-bound tours, which effectively means lesser share of the media rights pie, BCCI is expected to disburse a lesser amount to its state units this year ( ₹ 18 crore, compared with ₹ 30-35 crore last year).



Where the money goes

There are 27 state associations that are part of BCCI. The board has a redistribution or subvention system in place, started by then president, Jagmohan Dalmiya, in 2003.

As per the redistribution system, BCCI disburses roughly 70% of its revenue to the 27 state units (minus private clubs such as Cricket Club of India or government-run institutions like the railways, services and the universities).

Most state associations have embarked on stadium-building.

When former BCCI chief Shashank Manohar was at the helm of Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) in Nagpur, his priority was to build a world-class stadium in the city, at a cost of ₹ 75 crore. Similarly, under its former president, Anil Kumble, the Karnataka State Cricket Association invested in infrastructure, taking cricket to Shivamogga, Belagavi and Mysooru.

Anurag Thakur, president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, says, “The stadium in Dharamshala was built at ₹ 52 crore, with a capacity of 20,000. We have built low-cost stadiums in Amtar (Nadaun) at ₹ 4 crore, and Bilaspur at ₹ 3-3.5 crore. Our goal has always been to try and build quality infrastructure with sustainability, because maintenance is a problem."

The International Cricket Council’s accreditation norms for stadiums wanting global status mandate a five-star hotel and an international airport in the city. A major attraction of an international stadium is the fillip it gives to the local economy.

Unfortunately, there’s also a dark underbelly to such infrastructure-building drives.

Some turn into a fertile ground for graft or misappropriation of funds. Construction of stadiums and academies often takes place without an established process, as highlighted by the Andhra Pradesh anti-corruption bureau’s (ACB) 2011 case against the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA).

Twenty-three HCA officials, including BCCI working president Shivlal Yadav, were charged by the ACB with misappropriation of funds to the tune of ₹ 200 crore over the construction of the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad.

Each year, BCCI also gives associations anywhere between ₹ 24 crore and ₹ 30 crore each as grants, primarily to develop cricket and cricketing infrastructure. In addition, associations can seek a one-time infrastructure subsidy worth ₹ 75 crore (increased from ₹ 50 crore in 2013), introduced in 1998.

Apart from such grants, associations also earn revenue from ticket sales for IPL or international matches and in-stadia advertising and sponsorship.

Apart from associations, the players also benefit from BCCI’s largesse. The board shares a part of its profits with players on a graded system, with international players who represent India receiving the lion’s share and domestic and junior cricketers smaller portions of the BCCI’s surplus. In fiscal 2013, BCCI shared ₹ 48.57 crore with its players, a marginal increase from 2011-12, when ₹ 47.59 crore was distributed.

BCCI’s ‘favours’ culture

Every year, at BCCI’s annual general meeting (AGM), officials from state associations are elected to key board positions.

The process sees hectic lobbying. Favours are promised, and dispensed. Loyalists of the board and its current administration usually win most posts.

Those who lose, but can still be won over, are accommodated as chairmen and members of important sub-committees. The plum sub-committees today include the IPL Governing Council (GC), the finance committee, and the tours and fixtures committee.

Then there are tours where officials, especially considered close to the current dispensation, are sent as administrative managers or match observers for important overseas tours with various representational teams (India, India A and under-19).

Under a rotation system, each affiliate unit is allotted an international match by turn. But when there’s powerplay involved, and the mouthwatering prospect of votes follows, the system is often bypassed.

Matches against the big teams, especially England, Australia, Pakistan (if and when) and South Africa, are big draws. For some centres deprived of international matches, though, any visiting team will do.

Favours related to allotment of matches are common ahead of elections. Indeed, in the recently concluded one-day series against Sri Lanka, three associations from East Zone (Jharkhand, Odisha and Bengal) were allotted matches. As per BCCI’s constitution, East Zone is due to elect the next president of the board.

In contention for his third team as BCCI chief, late last month, and in his capacity as International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman, Srinivasan made a private trip to West Bengal, where he called on Dalmiya and was felicitated by some units affiliated with the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). During his trip, Srinivasan made a personal contribution of ₹ 1 crore to an old-age home run by CAB treasurer Biswaroop Dey, who, interestingly, is also a member of the BCCI’s finance committee. The news was reported by India Today magazine.

A day later, during a private visit to Guwahati’s Kamakhya temple, Srinivasan dropped by to inspect the newly-built Barsapara Stadium, where he reportedly assured the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) of IPL and Test matches in the near future, according to cricket website ESPNCricinfo.

Some say Srinivasan’s move to tour the East was strategically timed—to lobby support for his candidature. A senior BCCI official said, “Past presidents have put in place a culture of pampering. Instead of taking action against errant associations, they pamper them with more such offerings, especially when elections are near. There’s nothing new or unusual about what he (Srinivasan) has done. At the end of the day, it is about keeping people happy." This person did not want to be identified.

“There’s no greater, more accomplished manipulator of the system than the current incumbent, Srinivasan. No one has been such an accomplished survivor as Srinivasan. He’s seen off all his potential irritants and rivals—Bindra, Manohar, Lalit Modi and Sharad Pawar. There’s a consistency here. If you put your head above the parapet, if you become a potential rival locus of power, then you disappear very swiftly," says Haigh of Srinivasan.

Srinivasan was unavailable for comment on this story.

Who watches the board?

Despite the unending, constant flow of riches into its coffers, one of the biggest challenges before BCCI is to monitor how, and if at all, state associations spend their allotted grants. Does BCCI have a monitoring system in place?

Congress member of Parliament (MP) Jyotiraditya Scindia, president of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) and former member of the BCCI’s finance committee, says BCCI has a monitoring system, “but up to a certain extent".

The impediment to any sanction against errant associations, or those who fail to make use of the funds, is the decentralized or autonomous status they enjoy. Scindia adds, “All associations are independent units. It is up to the body to understand priorities and decide the course of action. At the BCCI level, we focus on the use of funds from the infrastructure grant."

BCCI, Shah says, doesn’t distinguish between some of its well-endowed associations and their poorer cousins. “For us, all associations are the same. We don’t see any difference between Tripura and Mumbai (the richest state unit)." Shah adds, “It is up to them to use the funds in the way they want to, given that they are all autonomous bodies."

Equally, these state associations and their all-powerful vote, hold the key to the power dynamics that dominate the board’s discourse. Potential action against these units could immediately mean loss of support, and a quick shift in loyalties, away from the dispensation in power. Scindia says the existing monitoring system must be strengthened,

“If (associations are) found wanting, there is a prescribed process of action that is followed. But that needs further strengthening," he said.

Thus far, seven associations have come under the radar of various government agencies. The Goa, Kerala and Mumbai associations face probes related to irregularities in ticket sales.

“BCCI cannot do anything as of now. The government agencies are handling these," says Shah.

However, BCCI has in the recent past taken action against the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), whose officials were accused of allegedly siphoning off funds given by the board for cricket development.

“We stopped further subsidy to the JKCA," confirms Shah.

The second part of the series will look at the workings of the controversial Indian Premier League

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Share Via