Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians’ owner Nita Ambani has been served a conflict-of-interest notice by the ethics officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Vineet Saran. Nita has been asked to clear her stand in a written note by 2 September. Notably, the complaint was first filed by a former Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) member and was later taken over by the BCCI.
Sanjeev Gupta had filed a complaint against Nita Ambani in this matter. He is the one who pointed out that Nita Ambani’s position as the owner of Mumbai Indians and also as a director of Reliance Industries represents a conflict of interest. It’s worth mentioning that the owner of the Mumbai Indians franchise is also the director at Reliance Industries, whose subsidiary Viacom18 bought the digital rights to broadcast IPL from 2023 to 2027.
“You are hereby informed that a complaint has been received by the Ethics Officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India under rule 39(b) of the rules and regulations of BCCI regarding certain acts allegedly constituting ‘conflict of interest’ on your part,” Saran wrote in his notice to Ambani. “You are directed to file your written response to the accompanying complaint on or before 2-9-2022”, the notice read.
Viacom18 bagged the digital rights for 2023-2027 window
Reliance Industries-backed Viacom18 bought the rights to broadcast the Indian Premier League for the next five years. The platform competed with broadcasting giants like Star, Sony, and various other companies. However, Viacom18 managed to buy the media rights for INR 23,758 crores. Not just the IPL, Viacom18 has also bagged the media rights of Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. They have broadcasting right for both the television and digital platforms for the games in these parts of the world.