Under MRTPC scanner now, Board says it’s not worried

Following in the footsteps of the Delhi High Court order comes another constriction in the functioning of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, vis-a-vis its dealing with the Indian Cricket League.

Following in the footsteps of the Delhi High Court order comes another constriction in the functioning of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), vis-a-vis its dealing with the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

The ICL seems determined to become a thorn in the flesh for the Board.

As if the legal complications following the Board’s decision to ban those defecting to the league, stopping pensions and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) — like Air India and Indian Oil Corporation — issuing notices to cricketers employed with them weren’t enough, the latest to join the slugfest is the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC).

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The MRTPC has initiated an investigation into the BCCI threatening players with life ban, and has directed its investigative arm, the Director General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) to look into the matter and submit a preliminary investigation report within 60 days.

And the Board says it is not worried, that “it is not an issue for us at all.”

The DGIR is to take into consideration the BCCI’s decision to expel former cricketers who have joined ICL, stop current cricketers from taking part in the Board’s domestic tournaments, curb the pension programme and not share the infrastructure available with them across the country to play the game.

Overall, the MRTPC intends to pull the Board up for adopting restrictive trade practices if the investigations prove them right.

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The BCCI says it is unperturbed. The Board’s Chief Administration Officer (CAO) Prof Ratnakar Shetty is confident that “the BCCI will not get hassled by these issues.” “The BCCI has run the game in the country for the last 75 years. Why do you think we need to bother ourselves with these developments, there are more important things to take care of?”

While Shetty insists that he’s yet not gone through the MRTPC release, he says the Board will not react to any statements coming out in the media. “It is not an issue for us at all,” he says.

Meanwhile, the MRTPC says it has launched the investigation after taking into account reports published in newspapers over the last few weeks. If they believe—after finding through investigations — that the BCCI is adopting restrictive trade practices, they can impose a fine or ask the board to desist from doing so.