Kolkata Police on Saturday sent a notice to Roger Binny, President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), regarding the allegations of black marketing of tickets for the India vs. South Africa ICC Cricket World Cup match at Eden Gardens. They requested that Binny provide any relevant documents or information regarding the sale of tickets for the match on Sunday by them or any other qualified member of the organization to the IO of Maidan PS, who is looking into the complaints. Scroll down to read BCCI Gets Notice From Over Info On IND vs SA Ticket Sales.
BCCI Gets Notice From Over Info On IND vs SA Ticket Sales
“A notice was sent to the BCCI president, asking him to provide relevant documents and information regarding the sale of tickets either personally or through any competent person of his organization to the investigating officer of Maidan PS during working hours on Tuesday,” the officer stated to PTI.
BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla responded to the notification from the Kolkata Police by saying, “BCCI has tried that tickets are availed to maximum fans.” The 12 venues’ state association was informed by BCCI that online ticket booking is recommended. The tickets purchased online were either delivered by courier or delivered in person at a predetermined location. The state association and the company that distributes tickets have a direct arrangement… The sole advisory function of BCCI is to guarantee that an increasing number of fans obtain tickets. The BCCI advised all state associations to follow its suggestion. In no way is BCCI directly to blame for this. It is against the rules set forth by the BCCI and ICC to transfer or resell tickets.
The BCCI is not liable if someone continues to do so; the police must put an end to them.”
In addition to filing seven complaints regarding the black peddling of tickets, Kolkata Police has so far detained 19 individuals and taken 108 tickets from them.
This comes days after Kolkata Police summoned representatives of the Bengal Cricket Association and the online ticketing portal in response to a complaint alleging ticket black marketing for Sunday’s India vs. South Africa ICC World Cup match, according to news agency PTI, which cited an officer.
The online ticket booking portal and CAB were sent notifications requesting their appearance on Thursday; however, according to the officer, none of the representatives from either of the organizations showed up.
According to PTI, Maidan Police Station opened a case on Wednesday following a complaint from cricket enthusiasts. They claimed that tickets for the India-South Africa match on Sunday were being black-marketed “due to the collision of an internet portal along with officials of the CAB and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)”.
The complainants claim that several tickets intended for the general public were purposefully reserved by specific BCCI and CAB officials, as well as the online ticket booking system, to make them available for purchase by black marketeers. A senior CAB official denied the accusations, stating that they were merely hosting the game and had nothing to do with the ticket sales, which were handled by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the web platform.
