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SPORTS: CRICKET
Switching Back On
If
you wanted to know how Mark Mascarenhas was reinstated in the public eye,
all it took was a trip to the Wankhede Stadium on a May night. The 43-year-old
businessman, television rights trader, celebrity manager, man of parts
known and unknown, rubbed shoulders with politicians and cricketers at
a felicitation function for his star "property", Sachin Tendulkar.
It took six months and a contract with a cricketer who enjoys as clean
a reputation in international cricket as anyone's to dim the memory of
Mascarenhas' annus horribilis. In 2000, just after the match-fixing scandal
broke, a report on alleged irregularities in deals struck by Doordarshan
named several key figures and firms in the sports television business
including WorldTel. Allegation of impropriety in dealings with the Sri
Lankan Cricket Board, income tax raids on his offices and the slow shrinking
of his television rights empire (which now includes rights to Bangladesh
cricket only) have been swept aside in one flourish following the deal
with Tendulkar. For the moment Mascarenhas has landed on his feet. He
told INDIA TODAY, "It was a terrible period for us and it did affect
the morale of the people working within the company. Rebuilding is always
a tough task."
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SPOTLIGHT AGAIN: Mascarenhas returns
to centrestage with his mega-deal
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Mascarenhas has built this business from small
beginnings as a salesman for radio spots on CBS in the US in 1981. In
10 years he had set up WorldTel, done business in China, sold World Cup
soccer-related programming to a telephone company, been part owner of
rights to the Alpine Skiing World Cup and marketed two big boxing bouts.
His purchase of television rights to the 1996 World Cup-bought for $10
million which eventually generated revenues of $20 million-is what made
him a name in Indian cricket, a reputation further enhanced by his first
endorsement signed with Tendulkar in 1996. "I'd never represented
a player before. I was motivated by his genius," says Mascarenhas.
The story of his success after snaring the hottest property in the game
came to a screeching halt following the events of 2000 and a critical
report by a consultant to Doordarshan, Arun Agrawal.
The Agrawal inquiry into the "DD Sports
Consortium" has led to two firs being lodged against DD officials,
World Tel (both the Indian and US branches) UTV, Stracon and certain officials
of the ICC. The cases cover deals surrounding the Independence Cup of
1997 and the ICC Knock-Out Trophy of 1998. The Enforcement Directorate
has now questioned Mascarenhas about the payments received for the telecast
rights of the Sharjah Cola-Cola Cup in 1999, based on information given
by Agrawal to the Enforcement Directorate. There are also allegations
from Sri Lanka of the Board being bribed. Mascarenhas says of that accusation,
"There are no investigations on in Sri Lanka. It's one guy fighting
with another guy and we were caught in the middle. The Lankan attorney
general said that far back as 1998." About the charges in India he
replies, "We've gone before each and every investigating authority.
We have nothing to hide. It is unfortunate that a disgruntled board politician
has made these wild, baseless and horribly damaging allegations. That's
the price one has to pay in a very visible business." In a business
of hard-nosed hustle, Mascarenhas has returned to prove he is still a
contender.
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