The dark side of the neoliberal dream
Writing in the Guardian , Mike Marqusee joins the chorus of writers who have pointed out the ramifications of the IPL mess.
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
Writing in the Guardian, Mike Marqusee joins the chorus of writers who have pointed out the ramifications of the IPL mess.
Despite the recent revelations, there's little indication things will change. All those vying for power in Indian cricket share the same assumptions and the same methods and not a few of the same cronies. Modi's successor Chirayu Amin – chairman of pharmaceutical giant Alembic and former president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry – promises a more disciplined and cautious approach but his model for cricket's future is no different from Modi's.
In selling the franchises, the BCCI was licensing exclusive groups of investors to exploit the common cricket market for private profit. That was problematic from the outset. Under private ownership, management is less hedged in by non-commercial concerns, such as ensuring wider access to facilities; they have neither a mandate for, nor an interest in, promoting the welfare of the game as a whole.
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo