IPL 2022: CVC Capital to get green signal from the BCCI ahead of upcoming season

Investment firm CVC Capital is all set to get an all clear from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) going into the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The firm, which bought the Ahmedabad-based team for a whopping price of Rs 5,625 crores, was said to be involved with gambling and betting companies.

Sisal, a betting gaming and payments company and Tipico, a sports betting and online gaming company featured among CVC Capitals’ portfolio companies. The BCCI office-bearers had talked about the CVC issues in the board’s recent annual general meeting and it’s learned that the company has two funds, European and Asian.

Even as the European fund is linked to betting companies, the Asian fund is clean. Moreover, as per a BCCI official, CVC invested in their IPL team from their Asian fund.  If reports are to be believed, the Indian board will give CVC Capital the ‘Letter of Intent’ after the legal committee gave a go-ahead.

Lalit Modi against CVC Capitals entering IPL market

Earlier, Lalit Modi, the former IPL Commissioner, lashed out at the BCCI for allowing better companies to enter the IPL platform.

“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? #cricket,” Moody tweeted.

Before entering the IPL market, the CVC also invested in sports like rugby, football and Formula 1. Apart from CVC getting their hands on the team from Ahmedabad, the RPSG Group, owned by Sanjeev Goenka, bought the Lucknow-based team for INR 7090 crores.

As per sources, the auction for the upcoming edition will take place in the first or second week of February. The host city for the mega auction hasn’t been announced though. The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus has also got the BCCI on its toes.

“Unless the COVID-19 situation worsens, we will have the IPL mega auction in India. The two-day event will be held on February 7 and 8 and like other years, we plan to hold it in Bengaluru. Preparations are underway,” a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying.