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World marathon
record holder Haile Gebrselassie predicted on Monday that he will
become the first man to clock two hours two minutes over 42.195 kms.

Gebrselassie, 37, is the only man to run under 2:04 after setting his world record of 2:03:59 in Berlin two years ago.

“There are good
runners around. Imagine, a 2:05 in the Boston Marathon but I think I am
the candidate to break it again. A 2:02 is very much possible,”
Gebrselassie told Reuters in an interview.

Gebrselassie, who
won Olympic golds in 1996 and 2000 in the 10,000 plus four consecutive
world titles, set world marathon records in 2007 and 2008 in Berlin on
what is considered the fastest marathon course in the world.

Olympics target

The Ethiopian, who
has targeted the marathon title at the 2012 London Olympics, did not
say when or where he planned to try and set a new record. He won the
Berlin marathon for a fourth straight year in 2009 but failed to beat
his best time.

Gebrselassie said
he was not surprised that compatriot Tsegaye Kebede had defied the
combined efforts of a powerful Kenyan contingent to win the London
marathon on Sunday.

Kebede ran
unopposed in the final 10 kms on a slippery surface to clock 2:05:19,
nine seconds outside the course record set by Kenyan Olympic champion
Sammy Wanjiru last year.

“I was not
surprised when Kebede won in London yesterday. He has been consistent
since winning bronze in the Beijing Olympics and another bronze in the
Berlin world championships last year,” Gebrselassie said. “The surface
was not very good, but this is sport where the unexpected happens many
times. Many other favourites lost. But Kebede was in very good shape.”

The next frontier

Gebrselassie said
many Ethiopians were turning to the marathon because of his
performances and because there were not enough track stadiums in their
country.

The former
Ethiopian police force officer said running shoe companies were
investing in marathon camps in Ethiopia, which had encouraged young
athletes to take up the sport.

“My involvement in
marathons spurred the younger crop of runners, who find it more
attractive because they can train anywhere as opposed to track
running,” he said. “We have only one track stadium in the capital
(Addis Ababa) and I fear that there may not be strong track runners
from Ethiopia in future if the issue is not addressed.”

Gebrselassie said his next race would be over 10 kms in Manchester on May 17.

“Then I will decide whether to run in the Berlin or Chicago
marathon,” he said. “The London Olympics is still very much in mind but
I will need to be more serious to compete with these young guys. They
are too fast these days.”

Touted as the next
big sensation for the Super Eagles attack, Kano Pillars striker, Ahmed
Musa leads the list of nominees for the maiden Naija Premier League
Awards.

Musa, who currently
leads the goal scorers’ chart on the local scene with fifteen goals, is
also on the verge of breaking the all-time highest goal record scored
in a season by a player.

The award, which is
the first independent award for the Premier League in Nigeria is set to
make its debut at the end of the ongoing season.

The award will be
unveiled at an event tagged ‘Naija Premier League Awards.’ It is an
initiative aimed at celebrating the performances of players, coaches
and clubs of the Nigerian elite division.

Chief Executive of
Naija Premier League Awards, Ojeikere Aikhoje, disclosed that the award
would go a long way in encouraging the players and coaches plying their
trade on the home front over the weekend.

Celebrating players
and coaches Aikhoje stated that the success of the Naija Premier League
Player and Manager of the Month Awards has boosted the newly-introduced
end of season awards.

“Coaches and
players in the league have commended our team for the monthly award
that has been on since January 2010. We have been able to celebrate the
players and coaches because they are the real stars in the league,” he
said.

Players who have
won the monthly award include Kano Pillars’ Ahmad Musa (January), Kwara
United’s Ukeyima Akombo (February) and Kaduna United’s Savior Stephen
(March), while the coaches are Salisu Yusuf of Kano Pillars (January
& March) as well as Justin Tenger of Kwara United (February).

Aikhoje added that
the success of the Nigerian team at the recent WAFU Nations Cup is an
indication of the ability of the home-based players to rise to the
occasion.

He reiterated the
fact that the players in the domestic league are the future of the
National Teams, adding that the only way to challenge their creativity
is to reward them.

It would be
recalled that six players from the local league were also part of the
44-man list released by Super Eagles coach Lars Largerback The Naija
Premier League Awards is the property of two online publications on the
Nigerian League:naijaligue.blogspot.com and naijapremierleague.com.

The minister of
sports and chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Ibrahim
Isa Bio, on Monday in Abuja, stated that the Anti Doping Laboratory at
the National Stadium in Abuja would become functional within the
shortest possible time.

The minister who
went on a tour of facilities within the stadium in the company of NSC
Director General,Patrick Ekeji, assured that every equipment needed to
make the anti-doping facility operational would be purchased and
personnel with requisite expertise needed to operate them employed.

The minister’s
comments came on the heels of Ekeji’s statement that the laboratory
needed injection of funds to make it functional. He noted that the
facility needs a generator and other equipment to make it work.

Ekeji told the
minister that the laboratory is the first of its kind in West Africa
and he assured the minister that that when operational, the facility
will pay for itself as all the doping tests at all major championship
in Nigeria, which are presently conducted outside Nigeria, will be done
at the laboratory.

Raphael Odi, a
staff of the department informed the minister that he and his
colleagues have been trained in Malaysia on how to use the equipment
and that all that is needed is for equipment to be complete and a
generator provided.

No water

Continuing his
inspection at the stadium, the minister was surprised to discover that
there was no water supply at the complex despite approving money for
the payment of debts owed to the water corporation.

He ordered that the
matter be followed up immediately in order to ensure that water supply
to the stadium is restored immediately.

Apart from public
supply of water, Bio promised to restore within three months,
alternative supply of water to both the Abuja National Stadium and the
National Stadium in Lagos.

He also said that a
borehole would be constructed at both stadia so that there will be
water always irrespective of whether the public water is constant or
not.

The minister
expressed displeasure at the present situation where the NSC pays
commercial rates for electricity supplied by the Power Holding
Corporation of Nigeria (PHCN). He held that since the stadia are not
involved in manufacturing, but are only used in the provision of social
service, the NSC should not be paying commercial rates on them.

He mandated Ekeji
to discuss with officials of PHCN to explore ways the commission will
begin to pay normal rates. He also suggested that the ministry make
annual payments for water and electricity instead of the current
monthly payment pattern.

At the site where
contractors are working on the 200-room athlete’s hostel, Bio
complained about the slow pace of work noting that he could not
understand why the work was yet to be completed in spite of the fact
that the contractors had been paid.

At the Indoor
Sports Hall, he was surprised at the lack of activity in the facility
while observing that the exterior of the hall left much to be desired.

On getting to the
gymnasium he bemoaned the lack of maintenance culture and the neglect
of the place especially the damaged roof and harped on the need to keep
it in good condition noting that:

‘‘The Abuja Stadium
is one of the most beautiful asset we have in this country and must
protect it and utilize by attracting more sporting activities to the
stadium’’ ‘Said Bio.

Inter Milan are
desperate to keep coach Jose Mourinho but the colourful Portuguese
could be on his way whether or not they secure an unprecedented treble.

As Roma’s home
defeat by Sampdoria on Sunday put Inter back in command in the Serie A
title race with three games left, while the champions also battle Roma
in the Italian Cup final on May 5 for the fifth time in six years.

Champions League
glory remains the major aim, but Mourinho’s future is far from clear
despite Inter holding a 3-1 lead heading into Wednesday’s semi-final
second leg in Barcelona.

Powered by hatred

The highly
successful former Porto and Chelsea coach hates the Italian soccer
establishment so much that he refuses to hold domestic news conferences
in case he clashes with the aggressive media and receives another
touchline ban for his outspokenness.

“I am very happy at
Inter but not in Italian football,” he told Britain’s Sky Sports
television last month, prompting renewed talk he wants to return to his
beloved England.

The crafty
47-year-old caused more mystery and mischief after last week’s win over
Barca, which put Inter a step closer to their first European Cup
success since back-to-back wins in 1964 and 1965.

“Anything can happen in the second leg. We can go there and lose the game and lose the coach,” he cryptically remarked.

Mourinho has
consistently said he wants to win a league title in Spain to complement
his triumphs with Chelsea and 2009 scudetto with Inter, leading to
constant speculation linking him with the revolving door of managers
which is Real Madrid.

Barcelona would
look an unlikely destination given coach Pep Guardiola’s success and
Mourinho’s rocky relationship with the Nou Camp since leaving as
assistant coach in the late 1990s.

Acid tongue

The greying charmer
has said that one day he would return to Chelsea, but no one was really
sure if he was joking, and he has hinted that the Manchester United job
would appeal to him.

But given Alex
Ferguson has said he had no immediate plans to retire, Mourinho has no
idea how long he may have to wait to have a shot at the Old Trafford
hot-seat making Real, Liverpool, or seeing out his Inter contract until
2012 more likely.

Despite his acid
tongue and abrasive nature, often with his own team, Inter are certain
his mercurial managerial abilities outweigh the Mourinho circus which
has led some Serie A rivals to say Italy would be better off without
him.

Sulley Muntari,
Mourinho’s first signing at Inter in 2008, has been blown away by the
coach’s tactical acumen – so much so it sounded like an advert for
other interested clubs.

“We have done an
amazing season. We didn’t believe it but you know it hasn’t finished
yet, we can win all three or we can win one or two or maybe we could
lose all three,” the Ghana midfielder told Reuters. “We have full
confidence in ourselves and now we have this great manager and he can
transform the team in any way. We are happy about what we have done so
far.”

It’s all good

Inter president
Massimo Moratti, excited about a possible first treble and vindicated
over his decision to replace Roberto Mancini with Mourinho two years
ago, is unperturbed by the rumours linking his master coach with a move
away.

“Mourinho has a
contract with Inter but even ignoring this, I am sure he will happily
remain,” Moratti told reporters. “The newspapers talk about Mourinho as
a character but they forget that, above all, he is a great
professional. He takes care of every minor detail. He is very focused
on the work in training and I believe he deserves all the money he gets
from his contract.”

Ultimately the
decision rests with Mourinho and given his unhappiness in Italy and the
fact he walked away from Porto in 2004 after their Champions League
triumph, anything is possible.

A playing tour of
either Spain or France tops the agenda of Falconets coach, Adat Egan,
in his bid to make an appreciable impact at the Female U-20 World Cup
billed for Germany from July 13- August

Aware of the
pitfalls that hindered his predecessors at major championships in the
past; Egan says he would set out to begin preparations with his team in
earnest.

“We have already
sent our proposals to the NFF and we are expecting a favourable
response from them. Already we have pencilled either Spain or France
for a playing tour for the girls” he said.

According to Egan,
at least thirty players would first be invited to the World Cup camp
billed to open next week with a couple of friendly matches already
targeted.

In the draws
already conducted for the tournament last week in Germany, Nigeria drew
the trio of England, Japan Mexico as group opponents.

Chances from the group

Looking at the
teams in the group, Egan believes the Falconets have a fair chance of
making it out of the group even though he regarded the teams in the
group as all good sides.

“They are all good
teams with different pedigree in female football; England and Japan
have shown their stuffs in different tournament but I remain positive
that we would make it out of the group to the next stage” he said.

After crashing out
as the bottom placed team in the maiden edition of the competition in
Canada way back 2002, Nigeria has finished the last three editions
reaching the quarter finals.

History making

For Egan, his mind is set on advancing beyond the quarter finals as he remains confident of making history in Germany.

“As a coach you
have to set high targets for yourself and for your team, I believe when
you do this, it motivates you to do more. In Germany I have my mind on
playing in the finals” he said.

Similarly, the
coach of the last set of Falconets to the World Cup in Chile, Dan
Evumena feels the team has a good chance of doing well as he pointed
out that the core of the present team were with him to the last World
Cup played in 2008.

“I went with a
relatively young team to Chile and I feel the experience most of them
had in Chile would have a good bearing on the team now,” he said.

Falconets will start their campaign at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women
World Cup on July 14 in Augsburg with an exciting fixture against
England

Nigeria’s
representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, Enyimba International,
have an arduous task ahead of them as the People’s Elephant came
crashing 0-3 to their opponent AS Vita of Congo in the first leg of
their Confederation Cup match.

All the goals were scored in the first half of the encounter.

The Aba landlords
would now have to score at least four un-replied goals in the return
leg billed for Aba in a fortnight, to stand any chance of moving on.

In the last round
of matches played, Enyimba had to upturn an earlier 2-0 deficit it
suffered in the hands of Academicas Petroleos to win their home game
3-0 to advance to this stage of the competition.

Nigerian clubs are
yet to win the competition since its first edition in 2004. The best
result by a Nigerian side was a second place finish by Dolphins in
2005. Enyimba coach, Okey Emordi, had earlier promised that he is
determined to make history as the first side to win that trophy for the
country.

The hope of
Nigerian football fans for a decent performance at the world cup in
South Africa received a boost with Chinedu Obasi’s strike on goal for
his club and the return of another striker, Ikechukwu Uche of Spanish
team, Real Zaragozam.

Uche returned to action last weekend after a
seven-month injury spell . He came off the bench and played for 16
minutes in his club’s 2-1 loss to Real Madrid . It was a remarkable
return for one of the Super Eagles regulars who suffered a ligament
damage in September last year and undoubtedly, coach Lars Lagerback
will be delighted at the strikers recovery especially as he has named
him on provisional list last week.

On Sunday, Malaga’s
Obinna Nsofor scored his club lone goal in a 1-1 draw in 86th minute
after coming on as replacement for Ecuadorean Caicedo in the 72nd
minute.

England

John Utaka and Nwankwo Kanu ( Portsmouth):

John Utaka was on
for the entire 90minutes as his relegated side Portsmouth rallied back
to a 2-2 draw against Bolton Wanderers in their Premier League
encounter at the Reebok Stadium last weekend. It was Cote D’Ivoire
striker, Aruna Dindane who scored both goals for Pompey to cancel
Bolton’s 2-0 lead but Utaka had a decent performance and provided the
assist for the second goal after his cutback pass near the byline found
the Ivorian forward who slotted the ball home from six yards out. Utaka
is hoping to make the final squad for the World Cup after being named
in the 44-man list released by the Super Eagles coach last week but he
may have to step up on his game if he is hoping to be among the six or
seven players to fill the forward line in the Nigeria squad to South
Africa. He has made 16 league appearances – eight from the start- for
the South Coast outfit, yet he has failed to record a single goal with
two games left to play in the campaign.

Eagles captain,
Nwankwo Kanu was not even listed for the Bolton trip albeit he claims
he is in top shape to lead the Eagles to the World Cup in South Africa.
Kanu however has a better scorecard than Utaka, having made 23
appearances for Portsmouth though he only started seven of those games.
The former Arsenal man has scored twice and provided two assists.

Aiyegbeni Yakubu,
Joseph Yobo and Victor Anichebe (Everton): Yakubu was on from the start
for only the eighth time this season but it was actually Anichebe who
scored one of Everton’s goals to help them to a 2-1 win over Fulham at
Goodison Park on Sunday.

Anichebe who is one of Nigeria’s World Cup
hopefuls came off the bench to level scores at 1-1 for the Toffees
before Mikel Arteta netted the winner. Yobo continued to endure a
frustrating experience on the Everton bench for 90minutes again last
weekend.France Onyekachi Apam (OGC Nice): One of our most consistent
players in Europe, Apam was not listed last weekend when his side, Nice
ensured they are staying in the top flight next season with a 2-1
victory over Grenoble at Stade Municipal Du Ray. The team was flirting
with relegation after winning only 10 out of 33 games before the match
against Grenoble but last weekend’s triumph meant they will play in
Ligue1 next season.

Central defender, Apam, who can also play as a full
back has featured in 23 league games this season and featured for
90minutes in all of the games. His number of appearances has obviously
been limited by his participation at the African Cup of Nations in
Angola in January.Olubayo Adefemi (US Bolougne) and Brown Ideye
(Sochaux) :Adefemi is one of Nigeria’s promising players in the right
back position for the World Cup in South Africa but he has not enjoyed
the best of times in the second half of the Ligue1 season at the newly
promoted outfit, Bolougne.

The former Rapid Bucharest of Romania player
was again not listed last weekend as his club, recorded a convincing
3-0 win away to Sochaux, their biggest win this season. The win gave
the newcomers a huge boost in their fight to escape relegation but they
still have a lot to do to better their 19th position on the table.
Adefemi has not featured in Ligue1 since scoring Bolugne’s consolation
goal in their 3-1 loss at Lille Metropole in February this year but he
is among the players called up to fight for a place in Nigeria’s World
Cup squad. Sochaux striker, Ideye was on for 90 minutes but he could
not save his club from a comprehensive home defeat.

The former Flying
Eagles striker who played in the 2007 World Youth Championship squad
has played 13 games for Sochaux, scoring only once. His other three
goals for the team came in the French Cup. He is one of the players
listed for World Cup build up programme.

Germany

Chinedu Obasi (TSG Hoffenheim):

If there is one
player whose potential of making Nigeria’s World Cup squad is not in
doubt , it should be Obasi. But his injury problems have continued to
hinder his progress in Europe. Obasi once again showed his scoring
prowess when he netted twice on Sunday to help his club to a 5-1 win
over Hamburg. He netted his first on 31minutes after pouncing on a pass
from Vukcevic and netted his second with a calm finish running through
on goal in the 72nd minute of the encounter.

The two goals brought
Obasi’s season tally in the league to five from 18 starts and he was
sure to have been delighted to have completed the whole game without
injury.Obafemi Martins (VFL Wolsburg):Expectedly the duo of Edin Dzeko
and Grafite got the nod to start in the attack for Wolfsburg and Eagles
striker Martins was left out of the squad.

After being away
from competitive football for seven months, Nigerian striker Ikechukwu
Uche finally made a long awaited return to action in last weekend’s
Spanish league encounter between Real Zaragoza and Real Madrid.

The Super Eagles
star joined Zaragoza from Getafe prior to the commencement of the
season but only made a paltry number of appearances (two) for Zaragoza
before damaging the cruciate knee ligament in his left knee last
September in a 4-1 defeat to Sevilla.

Unexpected move

So last Saturday’s
encounter against Real Madrid at the Estadio La Romareda was only his
third appearance of the season, but it was an appearance that seemed to
had emerged right out of the blues as many didn’t expect the Nigerian
international to make an immediate return to action so soon after
recovering from a career threatening injury.

“I guess a lot of
people will be surprised that I played but I trained hard in the days
leading up to the match and I guess I did enough to impress the coach
(Jose Aurelio Gay),” he said.

Zaragoza were a man
down but still level on scoring terms (1-1) with their more illustrious
adversaries by the time Uche came in to take the place of midfielder
Ander Herrera in the 75th minute of play.

A goal by Madrid’s
Brazilian superstar, Kaka, eight minutes from time however decided the
encounter in favour of the former Spanish and European champions and
ruined the day for Zaragoza. But it wasn’t enough to ruin the day for
Uche whose entry into the fray was accompanied by a resounding welcome
by the over 30,000 Zaragoza fans at the match venue.

Glad to be back

“Getting to play a
match after all these months was really something,” the 26-year-old
said. “It was a fantastic moment for me. Some of the fans were giving
me words of encouragement when I was warming up on the sidelines and
when I came in the welcome was fantastic. They were truly behind me but
I wasn’t happy that we lost in the end. It would have been nice to give
them something to cheer about.”

Saturday’s 2-1 loss
didn’t do much to alleviate what has been a poor campaign for Zaragoza
as they remain in the relegation zone with only four games to the end
of the season. Zaragoza will need to be at their best for the remainder
of the season if they plan on remaining in the Primera division come
the end of the season.

And it sure doesn’t
appear likely to be an easy task with upcoming games against Deportivo,
Espanyol, Xerez and Villarreal, but Uche has high hopes regarding his
club’s chances of escaping the drop.

“It won’t be easy
but I believe we have a very good chance of surviving,” he continued.
“Some of the games won’t be easy but we will be doing all we can to
make the fans happy.”

Up next, the World Cup

Another set of fans
who will undoubtedly be happy with Uche’s return to football are the
fans of the Super Eagles who haven’t seen their darling striker in the
green and white of the national team since last September’s 2-2 draw
against Tunisia in Abuja.

With the World Cup
in South Africa just over a month away, Uche will need to get as much
playing time as he can muster between now and the end of the season to
impress Super Eagles coach Lars Lagerback. It’s a task that doesn’t
appear easy, but Uche’s belief is resolute.

“A lot of people thought I wouldn’t play again this season but I am
back playing again,” he said “My aim now is to keep working hard so
that I can make it to the World Cup.”

Reigning Nigerian
champion in both the 100m and 200m, Obinna Metu, failed to make it to
the podium at the IAAF Grand Prix held in Dakar over the weekend as he
finished 4th in the 100m and 5th in the 200m finals at the athletics
event.

In the 100m event, Metu finished with a time of 10.41sec, while he returned a time of 21.57sec in the 200m.

Flash in the pan

Metu took the
Nigerian tracks by storm as he emerged the fastest man en-route
qualification for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, defeating the African
record holder, Olusoji Fasuba. He however did not make it beyond the
second round of the 100m event at the Olympics.

Another Nigerian
athlete on parade; Saul Weigpowa finished fifth in the 400m event in a
time of 47.88secs in a race won by Africa’s record holder, Gary Kigaya.

The likes of Obinna
Metu, Adetoye Durotoye, Damola Osayomi and other sprinters have proved
to be flashes in the pan; they will win at home and on the continent
with fanfare, but at the Olympics and World Championships, they always
turn flat-footed.

Another chance

With Nigerian
athletes billed to compete again at the Africa Championships in Kenya
and the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India later this year, they
would have to step up their pace if they hope to make any impact at the
events.

Already, the
Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) says its newly organised Golden
League Meet is meant to put the athletes in shape for the upcoming
events.

At the last leg of
the League held in Ibadan, the AFN president; Solomon Ogba explained
that the league was structured such that the athletes would be hitting
their peak form towards the National trials (Mobil track and field
Championships) been proposed for Calabar by June.

“It’s been a good start so far, I believe most of them should be hitting peak form by the last leg in Warri,” he said.

The winner of at least five legs out of the proposed six is expected to have a share of a N1 million naira jackpot up for grabs.

Currently, Ogho-Oghene Egwero leads the pack among those jostling for the jackpot.

Metu failed to
comment on his performance at Dakar, and brushed aside questions about
his non-participation in the AFN Golden League. He expressed scepticism
about the federation’s ability to pay since they were still owing him
his ticket refund to the last Mobil Track and field championship in
Abuja.

On Sunday, the Indian Premier League, a wildly successful professional cricket empire with a huge fan following,

holds the final game of its third season.

Whichever team wins – the Mumbai Indians or the Chennai Super Kings – the big loser could be the man who created the league.

On Monday, league
officials are expected to try to oust that executive, Lalit Kumar Modi,
who has been the league’s commissioner since its founding but has
become embroiled in a scandal that has also brought down a senior
government official.

The game has changed

In the past few
years, the IPL has transformed cricket in India from a gentlemanly
sport of tea breaks and daylong matches into a fast-paced, $4
billion-a-year industry hailed as a fitting symbol of India’s rise as
an economic power. The league’s financial and media success was mostly
attributed to Modi.

But a raging scandal, which has exposed a web entangling sports, politics and business in this country, threatens to end
Modi’s winning streak. It might also dash his aspirations for building
the IPL into what he recently called the “single largest league of the
world.”

What started as a
public spat between Modi and a senior lawmaker has quickly evolved into
an investigation by India’s tax authorities into the league’s financial
affairs. The revelations so far suggest that cricket has succumbed to
the same kinds of cronyism and corruption that affect many other parts
of Indian economics and politics.

“We haven’t seen
something as high-profile, as wide-ranging, where the numbers are as
big, in my lifetime,” said Jayaditya Gupta, executive editor of
Cricinfo, a website that tracks the sport.

Earlier this week
Shashi Tharoor, a former top U.N. diplomat, was forced to resign as
junior minister of foreign affairs in the Indian government. That
happened after Modi revealed that a group of businessmen whom Tharoor
had advised as they prepared a winning $333 million bid for a new
cricket league franchise had then given a female friend of Tharoor’s a
free minority stake in their new team.

Vested interests

Tharoor has denied
wrongdoing, saying he merely “mentored” the businessmen so they would
base the team in his home state, Kerala. The winning group, Tharoor
said, gave an ownership slice of less than 5 percent to his friend,
Sunanda Pushkar, separately as payment for her marketing services.

Meanwhile, income
tax agents this week searched the IPL’s headquarters, a suite at the
Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai where Modi works, as well as the offices
of the league’s eight original teams. The finance minister, Pranab
Mukherjee, promised Parliament a thorough investigation.

The inquiry
includes offshore shell companies through, which shares in the teams
are held. Critics have long asserted that team owners are using these
legal entities to obscure their ownership.

Even before the
scandal surfaced it had become apparent that at least some of the teams
were partly owned by the people responsible for overseeing the league,
or by their families.

The husband of
Modi’s wife’s sister, for instance, owns a big stake in the Rajasthan
Royals franchise. A company controlled by the husband of Modi’s
stepdaughter owns rights to show league games on the Internet and
mobile phones, and he holds a stake in another team, the Kings XI
Punjab. Other sports officials involved in overseeing the league also
own teams.

In an interview,
Modi, 46, denied that he had done anything wrong. He said his relatives
invested in the IPL three years ago because they had faith in him.

“In the beginning,
nobody wanted to come in,” he said as he smoked a Dunhill cigarette on
a terrace of the Grand Hyatt Hotel here. “All the people who came in
were friends and family who believed in the idea. The entire media said
this was a lousy investment, it’s not going to work.”

Even his critics
acknowledged that Modi, who previously helped bring ESPN and Disney to
India as their local partner, had succeeded where others had failed.

Cricket is as
important to Indians as basketball, football and baseball combined are
to Americans. But officials who oversaw the sport were never able to
fully exploit its appeal.

Modi said when he
first joined the organisation that oversaw the sport, the Board of
Control for Cricket in India, it collected just $300,000 in revenue per
match, primarily from ticket sales and broadcasting rights.

Now, he said, each
of the 56 league games a season brings in an average of $30 million.
Games attract audiences of 20,000 to 55,000 depending on the stadium.
On television, the current season has reached about 138 million
viewers, up from 121 million last year, according to TAM Media Research.

The cricket board,
a nonprofit organisation that is often run by politicians but is not an
arm of the government, began aggressively promoting cricket after
Sharad Pawar became its president in 2005. Besides being a government
minister, Pawar runs an important regional political party. As
president of the cricket board, he authorized Modi, who had proposed a
city-based league in the early 1990s, to start the IPL.

Modi’s flamboyant
promotion of the league, complete with red-carpet celebrities and
foreign cheerleaders, many from Eastern Europe and Australia, attracted
the wealthy and powerful to cricket.

Getting carried away

Mukesh Ambani, the
country’s richest man, bought the Mumbai Indians franchise. The
country’s most popular movie actor, Shah Rukh Khan, took a big stake in
the Kolkata Knight Riders and cheers them on from the sidelines of
every game.

Sony, which
broadcasts IPL’s two-month season on cable and satellite, is paying
$1.6 billion for the rights for nine years. Earlier this year, the
highest bid in an auction for two new teams was $370 million – up from
the top bid of $112 million three years ago when the first eight teams
were sold.

While Modi claims the league is profitable, he and his patrons refuse to disclose financial statements.

Contracts for
Internet rights have been negotiated in private, rather than being bid
out in auctions. And the league has often forced changes to the terms
of auctions and contracts once they were under way.

“There is a feeling
that the IPL is a wonderful economic mammoth that has been created,”
said Prem Panicker, a veteran Indian writer who has followed cricket
for many years. “But much of it is smoke and mirrors.”

In a television
interview, one Indian cricket official brushed off the more existential
questions about the league but acknowledged that the board had done a
poor job supervising it.

“We should have
been aware of what was happening,” Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, a member
of the board’s governing council, told NDTV. “The fact that we didn’t
question anything is because we were carried away with how well
everything was going.”

2010 New York Times News Service