Shades of unrest within the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) came to the fore, after President Sourav Ganguly dismissed tender related claims made by certain office bearers. The former Indian cricket team Captain termed the incident as a case of ‘misinformation’ by a section of the association.
There were rumours that a part of the Eden Gardens’ branding would come under the realm of ambush marketing. However, Ganguly was quick to deny these allegations. He said, “This is the first time in two decades, that the CAB has garnered a total of Rs 6 crores in finances. I am not doing this for my benefit and I don’t treat the sport that way either. There has been some misinformation spread within certain parts of the media I’m guessing.”
IDBI Federal Life Insurance are the current title sponsors for the Bengal Cricket team, having signed a Rs one crore deal with the association, earlier last year. A furious Ganguly also spoke about the tender process, “We don’t have any particular process for Tenders. We will be having a restricted tender this time, to avoid all possibilities of ambush marketing. And of course, it will be based on the naming rights permission given by the Army and the BCCI.”
He added, “There is no possible way that we can be involved within Ambush marketing as we already have 20 sponsors, out of which each has their own stakes. I am aware of this concept, and the CAB makes all efforts for that not to happen.”
We almost lost the 2011 World Cup match because of this individual: Ganguly
On being asked who spread these rumours to the media, Ganguly said that it wasn’t his habit to talk about people in public. He said, “I generally never like to point people out in public, it is always better to clarify the matter internally. If I had to say such things, I would point out things about the given person, stating that we could have lost the 2011 World Cup match because of him. However, I will not be doing that.”
A senior CAB official told Sportskeeda, “This particular marketing issue was never discussed within the meeting, because it was always a known fact that all the endorsements had their given stature. It was a deliberate attempt to create ruckus in an otherwise stable atmosphere. Hope this dies down soon, as it has no basis.”
Talking about the stadium’s changes ahead of this year’s T-20 World Cup final, Ganguly said, “Reliance will be funding an electronice scoreboard worth Rs 2.5 crore within the stadium. It will be up by February 15.” He added, “There will be no additional branding for given to Reliance.”
Ganguly’s outburst are the first cracks seen within an otherwise politically stable CAB.
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