Through cricket, to your pocket
Bangladesh cricket’s consecutive ties with questionable companies should become a matter of concern already as cricket appears to have become the easiest horse to ride on their way to our money
For a staunch cricket fan like me, the 2012 Asia Cup was surreal. Very few Bangladeshis can forget the iconic celebration by Tamim Iqbal following his fourth consecutive fifties in the tournament, after so much drama about his inclusion in the squad.
Consecutive wins in magnificent manner against the mighty India and Sri Lanka was really a treat to the eyes. That particular tournament, in fact, made Bangladesh known as a formidable foe in world cricket.
What also drew my attention was a new sponsor's name on the jersey—"Global Neway." Until then, Bangladesh had played under a telecom company's sponsorship for a very long time. Apart from the national team, they were also the official sponsor of Sylhet Royals in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)'s 2012 edition. Naturally, I was curious about the nature of the company.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Fast forward a few months, I got my answers from the newspapers that Global Neway, a multilevel marketing company, had embezzled several thousand crores from 40 thousands of its clients through illegal banking service.
In a cricket crazy country like ours, sponsoring the national team is, undoubtedly, a matter of prestige and pride. Later that year, Sahara India came with a bag full of cash to Bangladesh. Subrata Roy Sahara personally visited Bangladesh, which is apparently his maternal roots, and Sahara Matribhumi Unnayan Corporation eyed a massive investment to build a 'Notun Dhaka', a township project near Dhaka.
One of their very first activities in Bangladesh was to bag the sponsorships of the national cricket teams, both the men's and the women's. The name Sahara was featured on the Tigers' kit on many glorious moments, like their first series win against a full strength West Indies and Sohagh Gazi's legendary feat of century and a hat-trick in the same test.
Just like Gazi, Sahara had made a record too. They outbid their opponents in the sponsorship bid by an unprecedented margin in the history of cricket in Bangladesh, bidding almost three times more than the previous long-time sponsor.
But very soon, all hell broke loose and people came to know about the source of their money. Investigation was already underway against them in India since 2009, as they were accused of issuing fully convertible debentures without the permission of the central bank and collecting deposits from the masses.
After three years of litigation, just a few months after Sahara became the new sponsor of Bangladesh cricket, the supreme court of India directed Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd. and the Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd to refund Rs. 24,400 crore to its investors. What's worth noting is that the Supreme Court of India and the financial authority had started considering it as a money laundering case.
Later, Subrata Roy Sahara was arrested in 2014. Sahara Matribhumi could not continue with their brobdingnagian sponsorship and finally backed out in 2015. Their plan to build a new Dhaka with all other investment plans were buried. Currently Sahara India continues operation in India with a stay-order, but Sahara Matribhumi ceased to exist long ago.
Earlier this year, the Tigers went on a botched-up tour to New Zealand with the new e-commerce giant Evaly on their jerseys. The players miserably failed to deliver. Their sponsor failed to deliver too.
The former owners are currently behind bars, the authorities are continuing their investigation as millions of customers smack their forehead.
But it seems like we still have not learned anything. To this day, BCB continues with their title sponsor Alesha Mart, another questionable e-commerce platform currently under investigation. It has been blacklisted by a number of financial institutions.
Numerous banks have warned their clients to be careful with their transactions with Alesha Mart and have withdrawn themselves as payment partners. But their catchy jingle songs continue to ring in our ears during the commercial breaks on match day.
Bangladesh cricket's consecutive ties with questionable companies should become a matter of concern already as cricket appears to have become the easiest horse to ride on their way to our money. I am sure the cricket board will have enough justifications that they bear no responsibility for this, or they will be careful from now on.
But it should not be so hard to do a background check on the companies bidding for sponsorship. Neither is the board suffering from a shortage of funds. Reportedly, it has 900 crores in fixed deposits. So, surely it can afford to be more responsible.
In countries like Bangladesh where cricket is a major phenomenon, it is expected the cricketing authority will act responsibly beyond cricket too as there are millions of eyes on them.
And when such incidents keep happening repeatedly, and national icons have to play as a billboard for pickpocket companies, the situation has to be rectified. Because in countries like Bangladesh, that is how they get to people- through cricket, to our pocket.
Parthib Mahmud is an undergraduate student at the University of Dhaka.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
