Sourav Ganguly To Step Down As Director Of ISL Club ATK Mohun Bagan As Conflict Of Interest Debate Resurfaces

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, Sourav Ganguly’s name, has been involved in another conflict of interest. On Monday, BCCI announced the two successful bidders to acquire a team in IPL 2022- RPSG Ventures Ltd. – Lucknow (for INR 7,090 crores) and Irelia Company Pte Ltd (CVC Capital Partners) – Ahmedabad (for INR 5,625 crores).

Sourav Ganguly is part of RPSG owned ATK-Mohun Bagan

Ganguly face fresh questions about his alliance with the RPSG group after the latter won the bid for the Lucknow outfit for the next season.

Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG also owns a football team named ATK Mohun Bagan, who plays in the Indian Super League (ISL).

According to the official website of the club: “The team was owned by Kolkata Games and Sports Pvt. Ltd. consisting of former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, alongside businessmen Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka, and Utsav Parekh,” the website mentions.

“Ganguly is the president. He needs to understand. This is not the first time that he has been in this situation,” a senior member of BCCI told Indian Express.

Sourav Ganguly going to step down from Mohun Bagan completely: Sanjiv Goenka

After winning the bid for the Lucknow franchise, Sanjiv Goenka said that Ganguly will step down from the club very soon.

“Well, I think he (Ganguly) is going to step down from Mohun Bagan completely. That is for Sourav to make the announcement,” Goenka said on CNBC TV 18.

In the redrafted BCCI constitution following directions from the Supreme Court, the Justice RM Lodha committee listed several potential associations that came under the conflict of interest purview.

“When the BCCI, a member, the IPL or a franchisee enter into a contractual agreement with entities in which the individual concerned or his/her relative, partner or close associate has an interest. This is to include cases where family members, partners or close associates are in positions that may, or may be seen to compromise an individual’s participation, performance and discharge of roles,” it states.

The BCCI president had previously seen himself getting into a conflict of interest when he promoted a rival firm of BCCI’s official sponsor.

He also became the brand ambassador of JSW Cement, a part of the JSW group that owns the IPL franchise Delhi Capitals, whose mentor was Ganguly during IPL 2019.

Also Read: There Is Some Unfinished Business In The IPL: Sanjiv Goenka