Rajeev Shukla to miss IPL Media Rights meet to avoid Conflict of Interest

In a surprising move, the Chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Mr. Rajeev Shukla, has decided to give the media rights session a miss. The media rights auction of the popular T20 league is scheduled to take place on September 4 at Mumbai. The veteran BCCI administrator recently informed that he will not be attending the function in order to avoid any complications citing the Conflict of Interest.

As per the quotes in Zee News, he took this decision to ensure a smooth functioning of the media event. He ridiculed the rumor that the BAG Films, whose owner is Anuradha Prasad – the wife of Rajeev Shukla – has a tie up with Star Sports. Apparently, Star Sports is one of the top bidders for the television broadcast rights.

“Yes I have decided to recuse myself from the IPL media rights auctions and hence I will not be present in Mumbai on September 4,” quoted Rajeev Shukla.

“I have heard that someone has said that he will file an application in the Court about my alleged Conflict of Interest despite getting a clean chit from former BCCI ombudsman Justice Retired AP Shah. I want BCCI’s auction process to go on smoothly and that’s why I have decided to stay away despite having no conflict of interest,” he added.

Potential Bidders

The media rights will be valid for a period of 5 years from 2018 to 2022. The three categories for which the bidders will bid will be TV Broadcast, mobile, and Digital rights. The top bidders whose names have surfaced the media thus far are Airtel, Yahoon, BAMTech, and DAZN/Perform Group.

The bidders who had bought the offer document last year prior to the commencement of the tournament were: Star India, Amazon Seller Services, Followon Interactive Media, Taj TV India, Sony Pictures Networks, Times Internet, Supersport International, Reliance Jio Digital, Gulf DTH FZ LLC, GroupM Media, beIN, Econet Media, SKY UK, ESPN Digital Media, BTG Legal Services, BT PLC, Twitter, Facebook Inc.