The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has received a request from host broadcasters Star wherein they want to show political advertisements during the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League, starting May 23. While the Media Rights Agreement (MRA) between BCCI and Star clearly states that there is no place for political/religious advertisements, the SC-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) is set to discuss the matter on Monday.
Speaking to IANS, sources in the know of developments saidthat while the chances of the CoA approving of Star showing politicaladvertisements during the IPL is close to zilch, the matter will be discussednevertheless.
“The three-member CoA will meet on Monday and since therequest has come in, they will look into what exactly Star is looking at. But,the chance of the committee overturning the earlier stand of the BCCI in thisregard is close to zero. The last time the board was approached by thebroadcasters to show political ads during the IPL, the BCCI had made it clearthat sports and politics must be kept at a distance,” the sourceexplained.
A senior BCCI official said that this was an area that needed to be treaded upon with utter caution because never had the board mixed cricket and politics.