Another ticket scam in MCA?

As the Mumbai Cricket Association’s 79th Annual General Meeting (AGM) was coming to a close, former vice-president Ratnakar Shetty, sitting among the audience as a club representative, made an allegation that stunned one and all.

Shetty claimed that one of the MCA’s managing committee members had bought 150 tickets for the India-Pakistan Twenty20 game at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on December 28 with money from the association’s coffers.

He demanded that an inquiry be conducted to ascertain if the tickets were black-marketed. The chairman of the AGM, MCA president Ravi Sawant, promised that the matter would be looked into.

Meanwhile, it was decided that the prize money for Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy-winning team would be reduced to Rs 2 crore from the Rs 3 crore announced earlier.

There were also suggestions on how to resolve the income-tax issue. Since the I-T department has refused to recognise the MCA as a ‘charitable organisation’ and posted a huge demand of Rs 55 crore, a few MCA officials suggested they should seek BCCI’s intervention to negotiate with the government.

The MCA’s recommendation to give tickets to the clubs at public rates was withdrawn after much debate. The resolution to name the media centre at the Wankhede Stadium after the late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray was also kept on hold.

Shetty, who is also general manager (cricket development) of the BCCI, lauded the MCA for Mumbai’s brilliant season this year at all levels. He said the MCA would be given the “best association” award by the BCCI this year.

@rizvitaus