MUMBAI: The Indian cricket board will "donate" Rs 10 crore to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to support Indian athletes competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games next month, it was decided at an emergent meeting of its apex council.
The support to the IOA has come as a bit of surprise, particularly considering some lingering doubts about the Olympic Games actually taking place due to Covid-19 situation around the world and its "impending" third wave. Certain people and organisations have called for the postponement/cancellation of the July-August Games, which were scheduled for last year but were postponed due to the pandemic.
Also, the IOA is not really poor by its own standards. As per the 2018-19 balance sheet, the IOA is worth Rs.39.12 crore. But it has still not uploaded the 2019-20 balance sheet while the 2010-21 accounts could be work in progress.
Besides, the IOA has four "national sponsors", according to its website. They are MPL Sports Foundation, Inox Group, Nippon Paint, and Edelweiss. And, until recently the IOA had a kit supplier in Li-Ning, a Chinese company, with which it had signed a contract in 2018 that covered the Tokyo Olympics. Reportedly, the Li-Ning contract was worth between Rs 5 crore and Rs 6 crore.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), according to its 2018-19 balance sheet, is worth Rs.14,489.80 crore. Surprisingly, it has still not uploaded the balance sheets of 2017-18 and 2018-19, which should have been done by now, while it is understood that work on the 2019-20 accounts is on. IANS
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