Modi's mantras on sports management

They seek him here, they seek him there. India’s police, customs, cricket administration and media seek Lalit Modi everywhere, with little success to date (even his Twitter status is “everywhere”). Yet on November 3 he will be at Twickenham, part of an elite group of sports administrators and entrepreneurs at the International Sports Event Management Conference. Modi – famously called ‘Moses’ by Ravi Shastri not so long ago - will be sharing space with, among others, the IOC’s executive director, the man who organized the 2010 football World Cup, the man who will run the 2012 London Olympics and the chief of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

It’s rich in irony: Modi is persona non grata in the world of cricket – just ask Kevin Pietersen – but gets top billing at the event, where he is introduced as “Founder, IPL and Champions League”. And the topic he will be speaking on: “cultural and structural issues raised by Delhi’s hosting of the recent Commonwealth Games”. For those who came in late, it was only the monumental chaos and alleged corruption of the CWG that pushed the monumental chaos and alleged corruption of the IPL off the front pages. It should be an interesting speech.