New Delhi:
Suresh Kalmadi has challenged new allegations of corruption outlined in an interim report by the CAG or Comptroller and Auditor General of India. (Read: CWG irregularities: CAG interim report names Kalmadi)
The document indicts the finian rung of the Commonwealth Games: Kalmadi, who is Chairman of the Commonwealth Games' Organizing Committee; Mike Fennel, President of the Commonwealth Games' Federation; and Chief Executive Officer Mike Hooper.
The interim report suggests gigantic lapses in the way companies were chosen to handle broadcast rights and sponsorship rights.
By selecting Fast Track Sales of London to handle the broadcast rights, the report suggests that Rs. 24 crore was lost in revenue. It also says other bids were not studied before Fast Track was awarded the contract. Kalmadi rebuts that the Organizing Committee (OC) received only two bids, and that it chose Fast track because the firm had handled TV rights for four of the last five Commonwealth Games. Team Kalmadi also praises Fast Track for delivering 262 crores through international sales of TV rights, as compared to the 120 crores it had promised when it bid for the contract.
Interestingly, the Organizing Committee says the other company to have bid for the TV rights was Sports Marketing and Management - SMAM - based in Melbourne. SMAM did not have the required experience to handle broadcast needs, says Team Kalmadi.
What SMAM did end up with - till last week - was a highly-valuable deal to handle sponsorship and international advertising for the Games. The interim report of the CAG states while four companies wanted to apply for the contract, only SMAM was considered. The contract was cancelled last week by the OC for "non-performance"- the Games currently have 400 crores in sponsorship against their target of 1000 crores.
For the Queen's Baton Relay in October last year, the interim report says that the consultants chosen for the ceremony were, bizarrely, the highest bidder. By using Maxxam International, the interim report states, Rs. 6.16 crore was wasted. Maxxam's bid was five times more than the lowest bid received. Team Kalmadi, however, says Maxxam had experience in handling the same ceremony for earlier Games, and the company was chosen because "the country's prestige was at stake."
Meanwhile, speaking to NDTV, VK Verma, a Director General of the OC, defended Kalmadi, stating, "All major contracts, SMAM, MAXX, have been taken by the board, not single-handedly by Kalmadi. He was just a chairman of the board."
The document indicts the finian rung of the Commonwealth Games: Kalmadi, who is Chairman of the Commonwealth Games' Organizing Committee; Mike Fennel, President of the Commonwealth Games' Federation; and Chief Executive Officer Mike Hooper.
The interim report suggests gigantic lapses in the way companies were chosen to handle broadcast rights and sponsorship rights.
By selecting Fast Track Sales of London to handle the broadcast rights, the report suggests that Rs. 24 crore was lost in revenue. It also says other bids were not studied before Fast Track was awarded the contract. Kalmadi rebuts that the Organizing Committee (OC) received only two bids, and that it chose Fast track because the firm had handled TV rights for four of the last five Commonwealth Games. Team Kalmadi also praises Fast Track for delivering 262 crores through international sales of TV rights, as compared to the 120 crores it had promised when it bid for the contract.
Interestingly, the Organizing Committee says the other company to have bid for the TV rights was Sports Marketing and Management - SMAM - based in Melbourne. SMAM did not have the required experience to handle broadcast needs, says Team Kalmadi.
What SMAM did end up with - till last week - was a highly-valuable deal to handle sponsorship and international advertising for the Games. The interim report of the CAG states while four companies wanted to apply for the contract, only SMAM was considered. The contract was cancelled last week by the OC for "non-performance"- the Games currently have 400 crores in sponsorship against their target of 1000 crores.
For the Queen's Baton Relay in October last year, the interim report says that the consultants chosen for the ceremony were, bizarrely, the highest bidder. By using Maxxam International, the interim report states, Rs. 6.16 crore was wasted. Maxxam's bid was five times more than the lowest bid received. Team Kalmadi, however, says Maxxam had experience in handling the same ceremony for earlier Games, and the company was chosen because "the country's prestige was at stake."
Meanwhile, speaking to NDTV, VK Verma, a Director General of the OC, defended Kalmadi, stating, "All major contracts, SMAM, MAXX, have been taken by the board, not single-handedly by Kalmadi. He was just a chairman of the board."
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