Competition Commission orders detailed probe against BCCI for unfair business

The Competition Commission in India is visibly unhappy with the functioning of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). They have recently ordered a probe against the cricketing board for an alleged misuse of power. The order refers to the abuse of the dominant position of the Indian cricket board with regard to the scheduling of the domestic cricket leagues in India.

The order has come out after a complaint was filed against the board. The Pan India Infraprojects Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Essel Sports Pvt Ltd) filed the case against the BCCI. Following the complaint an order, as long as 14-pages, was put forth in the case by the Competition Committee. The order reveals that the board prohibited some big names like Pan India Infraprojects from participating in the tenders for media rights for IPL.

“Thus, it appears that BCCI has abused its dominant position in the market of organisation of professional domestic cricket leagues in India by excluding the informant (Pan India Infraprojects) or any of its group companies from participating in tenders for media rights for IPL,” the order said as per the reports in News18.

BCCI misusing power

The regulator in the case further stated that the board not only restrained parties from participating in the tender projects, but also excluded the Pan India Infraprojects from the downstream market by disallowing it to bid for the IPL media rights. This is not the first time that the BCCI has come up against such cases of fair trade against them.

“The sports federations engaged in organisation of tournaments/ leagues are put to advantage if they also possess the authority to grant approval for organisation of similar events by others and set conditions for such organisation. BCCI seems to have taken advantage of such a situation,” the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in the order dated June 1.

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