Lalit Modi Claims Dawood Ibrahim's $4-Bn 'Satta Bazaar' Targeted Him Over IPL Control; Rejects 'Fugitive' Label

London, UK: In a sensational disclosure, former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi revealed for the first time that alleged life-threatening intimidation from underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his crime syndicate was one of the single biggest reasons behind his decision to permanently retire from cricket administration.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Lalit detailed how his unyielding stance against match-fixing during the initial years of the IPL directly collided with the multi-billion-dollar underground betting empire controlled by the D-Company. He asserted that the syndicate operates an unimaginably vast "Satta Bazaar" where odds change with every single ball.

"Dawood Ibrahim is a known bookmaker. He controlled the cricket book. In those days, it used to be $2 billion of underground betting. Today, it's $4 billion of underground betting a game. It's huge. It's unimaginably huge. Every ball, there's an odd chance. It's the Satta Bazaar. Nobody fixes games anymore. You fix overs. You fix the ball," Lalit revealed.

Explaining the sophisticated spot-fixing methods where bookies target individual balls or specific overs through covert on-field signals, Lalit added, "We don't know what success is. It's become so sophisticated. Somebody takes out a handkerchief, somebody rubs something the other way, and it's a sign. Okay, we watch for these signs. We look for these signs."

He stated that because he strictly monitored these signs and refused to cooperate, he became a primary target for the mafia. "If you look at the first three years when I ran the IPL, there was no fixing. I took a lot of people to task. And I threw a lot of people out of the stadium. I banned a lot of people from coming. It wasn't liked by the mafia," he noted, adding that he rejected massive bribes: "They offered me hundreds of millions of dollars to look the other way."

Recalling a sequence of events from 2012, Lalit recounted an incident where a London-based fixer orchestrated a late-night meeting at a penthouse belonging to a well-connected intermediary named Baba. During this meeting, the intermediary allegedly called Dawood Ibrahim directly via a satellite phone from his terrace and placed the fugitive don on speakerphone to pressure Modi into facilitating an IPL franchise for the syndicate.

"I have not told this story to anybody... I'm called at 3.30 in the morning... He (fixer) says, 'You have to come and meet this guy, Baba. And you have to come now.' I thought maybe it's something important. So I go to Baba's house. There, he (Baba) says, 'You have left India, we need an IPL team.' I said I am not even in India. Why do you need an IPL team? Whoever wants to go and buy from someone can go buy it. Moreover, I'm not even going back to India; there is a Dawood problem there. To which he said, 'I will fix it in a minute,'" Lalit recounted.

"The intermediary then went out onto his terrace, took out a satellite phone, and allegedly dialled Dawood Ibrahim directly. "He goes on his terrace. He takes out his satellite phone and calls Dawood on the phone. Baba says, 'Dawood bhai, Lalit bhai aaya hai. Baat karo.' (Dawood Bhai, Lalit bhai has come. Talk to him.) I said I'm not talking. So he put the call on speaker. I again said, I'm not talking. And he (Dawood) simply says, 'You are his friend, forget everything, it is all over,'" Lalit disclosed.

The former IPL chief further disclosed that his refusal to comply triggered a relentless wave of coordinated retaliation across the globe, forcing law enforcement agencies to intervene.

"Bombay police recorded everything. It was chatter that came from the Bombay police. Bombay police put me on Z-security. I didn't ask for it. All of a sudden, I had Z-security. There was a shootout outside my house in Bombay. There was a hit for me in Johannesburg. And I'm in Cape Town, which was picked up by the South African government. There was a hit on me in Montenegro, which was picked up at the Croatian border. My son was kidnapped in London on Sloane Street, right there... by a guy called Baba Avin. He lived on Park Street," Lalit claimed.

Lalit alleged that the underworld's hostility escalated drastically when he successfully relocated IPL Season 2 to South Africa, disrupting massive betting syndicates that had wagered the tournament would not happen. "They accused me of moving IPL to South Africa when they thought it was not going to move because they ate the bets up. So they lost a lot of money, apparently. So they wanted me to make good that money. I didn't ask him to take the bet. I don't have anything to do with it," he explained.

Lalit claimed that this multi-layered standoff was only defused after top syndicate operative Chhota Shakeel gave a live interview confirming that the mafia had resolved its issues with Lalit Modi. When asked what exactly was resolved, Lalit clarified that it was his personal guarantee to completely step away from the sport that saved his life.

"He (Chhota Shakeel) said we have resolved issues with Lalit Modi... I just said I will retire from cricket. I gave my word I would retire. It's one of the biggest reasons. One of the biggest reasons. Why would I subject myself to media pressure, government pressure, and then life-threatening pressure?" Lalit said.

The former Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman Lalit Modi has also fiercely rejected the 'fugitive' label slapped on him, pointing out that he has never been convicted of a single crime.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Lalit Modi mocked the idea that he is successfully hiding from Indian authorities, attributing the narrative entirely to media sensationalism rather than legal reality. He rubbished claims that he is on the run, arguing that evading a global superpower like India while travelling the world is an impossibility.

"I'm not running at all. I'm going all over the world. If I was running, you would be picking me up somewhere or the other. The Indian government has a long arm... You can't take on the government of India. And I don't intend to. It's not the government. It's the media," he said.

Lalit blamed the lack of strict defamation laws in India for the relentless media trials, stating, "You have no libel in your country, in our country. You can say what you want and I sell news."

Addressing the complex web of legal battles back home, including disciplinary actions by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and intense scrutiny by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Lalit Modi highlighted the lack of concrete legal resolution.
While he faces allegations of bid-rigging, money laundering, and violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) stemming from his 2010 departure, he emphasised that no criminal charges have stuck.

Lalit Modi lamented the Indian judicial system, calling it a form of penalisation in itself. "It never gets heard in our country. Justice comes. I don't know when it comes. The slow justice is a punishment as well. Not a single case against me has been registered. If I have been so bad, and everybody says I've been so bad, OK, please, guys, go out and prosecute me."

When pressed on whether he plans to return to India to formally clear his name, the former cricket tycoon made it clear that his priorities have shifted. The burning desire to prove a point is gone.

"There was a time when I did want to come back. And I had all the reasons to come back. Come back and do what?... I don't need to prove to anybody," Lalit Modi stated.

He further questioned the basis of any potential detention, "Arrest you want to do, you have to take me to court. 17 years you haven't taken me to court. How can you arrest me today? If there was something there, it would be out."

Despite Lalit Modi's dismissal of the claims, Indian regulatory bodies remain on his trail. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating alleged financial misconduct, money laundering, and unauthorised fund transfers during his IPL tenure, while the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is pursuing extradition protocols under both Indian and international law.