Rajasthan Royals Claim their Bid Complied BCCI, IPL Norms

In the wake of allegations of irregularities in their initial bid, Rajasthan Royals has made it clear that the consortium neither violated any norms nor concealed any information from the BCCI regarding its shareholding patterns, said media reports.

Rajasthan Royals claimed that its bid completely followed the BCCI and the IPL guidelines and revealed the shareholding in which Suresh Chellaram, the brother-in-law of suspended IPL chief Lalit Modi, holds a majority stake of 44.2 per cent, reports said.

The team said that the UK-based Emerging Media (IPL) Ltd led their denying BCCI chief Shashank Manohar’s allegation that the bidders’ identity was not known, reports said.

“The other entities in the consortium were disclosed in the bid submission documents,” the statement read.

“The current shareholders of EM Sporting Holdings Limited, who all have multiple business interests and independent means, are as follows: Emerging Media (IPL) Ltd (Manoj Badale – 32.4per cent), Tresco International Ltd (Suresh Chellaram Family – 44.2 per cent), Blue Water Estate Ltd (Lachlan Murdoch – 11.7 per cent) and Kuki Investments Ltd (Raj Kundra & Family – 11.7 per cent). There are no other shareholders,” it added.

The team owners said that disclosure of the shareholding pattern is for clarifying ‘certain misconceptions about the franchise, which have been raised through the media’, said reports.

It also dismissed the allegations that the Rajasthan bid infringed norms.

“The Rajasthan Royals franchise bid was successful, with full compliance of BCCI guidelines, in a process conducted with the committee members of BCCI in January 2008. Full details of the consortium bid structure and the way the company would be set up were contained in the original submission to the BCCI in January 2008,” the team said.

“The structure has been completely transparent and in accordance with regulatory guidelines ever since. The corporate structure was established in accordance with the details provided in the bid submission shortly after the bid. It was not established prior to the bid, as we obviously did not know if the bid would be successful,” it added.

(Based on internet reports)