The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked the BCCI to share the contract papers and foreign remittance records relating to the now defunct Champions League T20 for which the Indian board had joined hands with Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa.
A senior BCCI official said, “There is nothing in writing. It remains to be seen how the BCCI will answer the ED queries.”
The issue first came to light a few months ago when the Committee of Administrators (CoA) suspected a possible FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) violation in the Champions League T20 accounts. After a series of meeting with BCCI office-bearers, the matter was referred to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Close to Rs 1600 crore — participation fees in 2009 and compensation package in 2015 — was said to have been transferred to the cricket boards in Australia and South Africa.
The CLT20 was conceived by Lalit Modi and N Srinivasan in 2008. Those in charge of the BCCI at the time the tournament was folded up were present ICC chairman Shashank Manohar and the new Minister of State Anurag Thakur. Anirudh Chaudhary was the treasurer.
The CLT20 featured top domestic teams from around the world. If the IPL was inspired by the English Premier League, this was said to be cricket’s version of the UEFA Champions League.
