The Stanford scandal expose has come as shock to the cricket lovers, including myself.
It was only a few months ago when his personal chopper landed at the Lords cricket ground in London – known as the Mecca of cricket- where he flashed his $20 million prize money for Twenty20 cup named after himself.
The game of cricket, born in the 16th century in England, has always been called a gentleman’s game.
The game has evolved over the past 400 years, so have the players and its management. Cricket was never a game with money it commands today.
Kevin Pietersen, the gutsy ex-English captain was recently bought for $1.5 million by a team in Indian Premier League (IPL), which has a 45-day annual season. Another IPL team has been valued at around $150 million. Cricket stars are larger than life figures in countries where the game is treated like a religion.
I often tell my non Indian investors and associates that if they want to do business with India, it does not matter if they don’t do their due-diligence or numbers right, its very important that they know Sachin Tendulkar (for those who don’t know, Sachin is God in India – the cricket superstar).
Despite this money, the game has by far retained its character to be a gentleman’s game. In 1980 when arch rivals India and Pakistan resumed their cricket relations by playing a symbolic match , ties were exchanged by team members at the start of the game.
So when super rich people like Stanford, who has been accused by SEC of a $8 billion financial fraud, put their dirty money in this game, questions are bound to be asked. Cricket fraternity should do its own professional due-diligence when accepting moneys for the game so that it continues to remain a game of the gentleman and not of a Ponzi. Latest news reports suggest that Stanford has gone missing while depositors line up out side his banks…
Posted by Sanjay Goyal 