Ahmedabad's IPL 2022 plans in jeopardy as BCCI could probe CVC Capital's betting violation

According to reports, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be forming a neutral panel to investigate CVC Capital, the owners of the new Ahmedabad Indian Premier League franchise. The investigation comes after the private equity firm is alleged of having partnerships with betting companies and the BCCI will investigate the matter.

CVC Capital bid Rs. 5625 crore at the IPL auction to secure the rights for the franchise but it could all be in doubt now if the BCCI disallows CVC Capital from owning the Ahmedabad franchise.

If the BCCI committee disallows the private equity firm, then the next highest bidder (Adani in this case), will become the owner of the franchise. It would also bring into doubt the participation of the Ahmedabad team in the IPL 2022 as it is not known how long the entire process of another takeover will take. If that is to happen, there would be nine teams participating in the next edition of the IPL as opposed to the planned 10.

Betting companies part of CVC's portfolio companies

Tipico and Sisal are the two companies that feature among CVC Capital's portfolio companies. Tipico is said to be a betting company for online gaming, Sisal is said to be a payments company. And given that betting is banned in India, this is not a good sign for the private equity firm.

Earlier, former chairman of the IPL Lalit Modi had tweeted on the day the new franchises were announced and said that he did not know BCCI had allowed betting companies to own IPL teams, before adding that the BCCI had not done its 'homework' in regards to background checks on the companies.

"I guess betting companies can buy an IPL team. Must be a new rule. Apparently, one qualified bidder also owns a big betting company. What next? Does BCCI not do their homework. What can Anti-corruption do in such a case?" tweeted Modi.

For now though, a committee has been formed, with the likes of Supreme Court and High Court judges set to be on the panel. They will then decide the future of the Ahmedabad IPL franchise and CVC Captial. The IPL governing council, on December 4, is set to convene regarding this matter.

Image: @ipl/ Twitter