[prpoint] Re: Whitewashing of sins is a 'bad PR' - IPL Gate and India Cements

 

srinivasan has raised another interesting HOT TOPIC , IPL Spot Fixing scandal for discussion.

we have to look at the issue at two levels : 1) the involvement of India Cements and its ownership of CSK , a top team in IPL and the dual role played by Srinivasan , owner of India Cements, who is also the main franchisee of CSK.

                                                              2) the handling of the crisis by its PR team.

1st : what has already appeared in the media: India Cements owner Srinivasan is also the owner of CSK and is also the President of BCCI which administer's IPL. Should such dual authority been allowed in the first place as it represents a conflict of interest, an issue on which the courts have represented a split verdict , one finding nothing wrong in the light of amendment to clause 6,2,4 of BCCI rules and regulations and another questioning the same ( the amendment as an afterthought), and the matter is before another bench of SC to decide the issue.

 IPL is itself a big money spinner for the BCCI so much so that it gives it enough funds to contribute to the internatonal ICC where it has a strong voice to decide on cricketing issues globally. BCCI pays near Rs 1,000 crore (US $ 180 Million)as income tax to the government making it perhaps  the richest body at over rs 3500 to rs 4000 crore ( US $ 636 million to US$  727 million)  as revenue in a year (calculated on the basis of rs 55 to a one US Dollar).

So BCCI has enormously increased its clout with IPL with sheer money power, forget what purists or lovers of cricket have to say about this for the moment that IPL has tarnished the image of cricket or lowered its standards. IPL became popular because its like a football match , pulsating action rolled into just two hours of the game, even ODI has lost its charm among people who want football like action in cricket.

with so much money and power to control domestically and internationally , the stakes are very high. so there are always forces at work to bring down those who are in power. this is not a defence for srinivasan but an issue that raises questions as !) India Cements is not such a big company in corporate world that it can marshall such enormous resources as US $ 3000 million to buy players and run a franchise. So where is the money coming from ? If you find an answer to this question, then you will ask who is behind the franchise or the cement company..

Here is the political angle : India Cements has been traditionally a supporter of the DMK regime ? Authoritative political sources claim that the real owner of the franchise CSK is Kanimozhi the daughter of DMK Supremo M Karunanidhi. Its alleged that the wealth accreted by the DMK in the last ten years politically has partly been channelled into cricket. And the people standing media trial today - Meiyappan and Srinivasan are merely fall guys. Is there a deeper political game where people upset by DMK's parting ways with the ruling UPA is seeking to put pressure on the party in an indirect way. May be true maybe false. Time will tell.

The idea is to choke money, power and politics that DMK enjoys through its surrogate owners is sought to be choked by certain powers in Delhi which control investigative agencies, political sources claim.

2nd is PR handling of the issue :

On issue like this, the golden rule is not to speak to the media (i beg to differ with you srinivasan -- honesty does not pay in this corrupt world) unless some sort of control has been achieved in controlling an explosive situatioh). True Meiyappan has been describing himself as Principal and even as IPL accreditation as owner, but the question is HAS INDIA CEMENTS ever issue a PRESS RELEASE describing Meiyyappan as the owner of CSK? If it did, then its goose is cooked, if it did not then lawyers have found way for getting Srinivasan out of the mess by disowning Meiyyappan.

To save face, India Cements had no option but to ask Meiyyappan to remove all reference of himself as principal or owner of CSK from his Twitter account. If some one describes himself as something on Twitter, what is the sanctity that he is telling the truth, this is the escape route for Indian Cements and the owner to dissociate himself from the one involved in crime and controversy.

For resolution of the issue and to save some face the options open are :

1) Thats Srinivasan resign voluntarity saying the issue has caused much embarassment to him and his role in BCCI . If he fails to do it, BCCI should sack him and replace him immediately with a non controversial and non political figure ( sashikant manohar former BCCI Chief) . Face saving for both BCCI and Srinivasan.

2) the PR departments keeps it mouth shout and say " NO COMMENTS" untill some reasonable soluton has been found to diffuse the crisis. the matter is not simple, but highly complicated with so much cross over ownership and interests with a listed company, that every word affects its fortunes economically ( share prices crash with every true or false  statement), and also politically. the matrer is in courts, so the PR department can invite contempt of court if it makes any slip in any statement on the issue.

Lie low and allow the situation to diffuse itself and then make a statement is what i think should be the corprcom aproach.

cheers
ashok

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TN Ashok                
Corporate Consultant,

(Public Affairs/ Media Advisories)

Resident Editor, Industrial Economist,

Contributor, Business Line,

Ex Economics Editor, PTI,

Ex Communications Advisor,

Alstom Group of Companies SA France

+91 98101 88700

+91 88005 35205

+91 11 2271 3192

ashoktnex@gmail.com

ashnews@yahoo.com h

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