World Cup organisers claim 1.56 million in losses! (21 Sep 1996)
World Cup organisers claim 1.56 million in losses
21-Sep-1996
21 Sep 1996
World Cup organisers claim 1.56 million in losses!
Rediffusion on the Net
Even Ripley would have a hard time believing this, but the
Indian World Cup Organising Committee, part of the three-nation
PILCOM that was responsible for the Wills World Cup, has
reportedly incurred a huge loss of Rs 15,664,224.
As per accounts submitted in Bombay on Friday, the opening
ceremony of the World Cup, held at Calcutta's Eden Garden on
February 11, alone cost Rs 66,914,224. The main sponsors Indian
Tobacco Company paid Rs 16,500,000 crore, the television rights
for the ceremony brought an income of Rs 26.200,000 crore, while
the advertisement revenue was Rs 8,500,000 (total income Rs
51,250,000).
Board of Control for Cricket in India members have, following
the tabling of the accounts, strongly protested organising
secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya's "outrageous extravaganze." Dalmiya,
it will be remembered, was directly in charge of the opening
ceremony.
Dalmiya revealed these figures to the BCCI members prior to the
annual general body meeting scheduled next week, and Vidharbha
Cricket Association president P R Mundle, who has announced his
candidature for the presidentship of BCCI against Raj Singh
Dungarpur of Bombay, is leading the protest.
Mundle, in a letter to Dalmiya has said that so many items, on
which extraordinarily large amounts have been spent, require
more details.
Mundle says that he is baffled by the very first item on the
expense sheet, a payment of dollars 2,880,000 to an agency
called Half Moon. Nowhere in the accounts does it specify,
however, what the agency's business is, or what services it
rendered to deserve the princely payment. And to make matters
worse, Mundle points out, there is a further entry of
commission, to the tune of Rs 500,000, paid to the Calcutta
office of the selfsame Half Moon agency.
Mundle's grouse does not end there - he questions the payment of
Rs 500,000 to filmstar Saeed Jaffrey, the compere for the
evening, who not only spoke in a suspiciously slurred tone of
voice but consistently got names and facts wrong throughout his
spiel.
Why, Mundle further asks, was Lata Mangeshkar - a self-confessed
fan of cricket - paid Rs 500,000 for a song that was over and
done with in three minutes, and since completely forgotten? Why
was the impression created that former Miss Universe Sushmita
Sen's appearance at the inaugural was gratis, when she had
actually accepted compensation to the tune of Rs 100,000? What
does the item - Flags, expenditure thereon, Rs 300,000 -
actually mean? Weren't participating countries bringing their
own flags? If yes, then what does this item relate to? And if
no, then why not, given that it is the norm for countries to
come with their own flags?
The expenditure sheet has more eye-openers: for instance,
Dalmiya's statement of expenses has an entry of Rs 1,500,000 for
electricity consumption on the day of the inaugural ceremony -
this despite the fact that Dalmiya has now asked the Cricket
Association of Bengal to pay a further Rs 3,000,000 on the same
item.
The CAB has, incidentally, gone to court on this issue.
Again, Dalmiya had apparently hired British-based cricket
photographer Patrick Eagar to cover the opening ceremony for the
organisers, paying the lensman 2,000 pounds for that task alone.
This, despite the fact that Eagar, who these days operates
freelance, was in any event covering the Wills World Cup on his
own account. And worse, Eagar's photographs, copies of which
were supposedly meant for press coverage, were not made
available by the organisers when the media asked for them -
Indian papers and magazines had to arrange for their own
photographs, and those who did take Eagar's photographs to
enhance their coverage had to pay for the privilege.
Another interesting instance relates to the husband and wife
team of Ananda Shankar and Tanushree Shankar, who choreographed
and performed a dance number for the inaugural ceremony. Though
the Shankars are always hired as a team, Dalmiya's accounts show
a payment of Rs 300,000 to Ananda Shankar, and a seperate
payment of Rs 950,000 to Tanushree Shankar.
Though each individual item in the expense sheet causes eyebrows
to reach for the stratosphere, the most curious aspect of the
entire business is this: before, during and after the inaugural
ceremony, the impression consistently conveyed by Dalmiya was
this - that all expenses of the inaugural were to be born by the
Cricket Association of Bengal, and the World Cup committee had
no financial responsibility in this regard.
Indeed, this was the condition under which the CAB was allotted
the high profile ceremony in the first place.
Obviously, Dalmiya has some hard explaining to do in the days to
come. And the heat will really be on when the BCCI meets in
general body in Chandigarh next week - a meeting that, judging
by the emerging evidence, is likely to be as acrimonious as they
come.
Meanwhile, members of the board have already begun privately
discussing the possibility of taking legal action against the
high profile Dalmiya.
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