New Delhi: A day after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) turned down the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) request for a Rs 100 crore aid for the Commonwealth Games, Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi has defended himself saying that it was a commercial proposition.
"We have to pass the hats around to various people. It's not just for charity. I have written about 100-200 letters to a lot of people. So, one of them is BCCI because cricket is the prime game in India and I thought that the prime game of India should support the Olympic sports also," says Kalmadi.
In a letter to the BCCI, now accessed by CNN-IBN, Kalmadi had written: "As you are aware, two test matches between India and Australia are scheduled in India between 3rd and 14th October 2010, when the Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 are being conducted. Needless to say, that this may have a significant impact on the ticketing revenue of the Organising Committee.
The association of BCCI with the commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 as a lead partner should therefore help the OC in making good the dent in revenue that is likely to be impacted by these cricket matches."
Kalmadi says that cricket, being a prime game in India should support the Olympic sports also.
He also adds that the refusal by the BCCI to lend money would not have major impact.
On Saturday, the Working Committee of the BCCI had turned down the Indian Olympic Association's request of giving Rs 100 crore aid for the Commonwealth Games.
Last year, the BCCI had come to the rescue of the All India Football Federation (AIFF)to assist it in preparing the Indian squad for the upcoming Asian Cup, for which the team has qualified after almost a quarter century, and granted AIFF Rs 25 crore for this specific purpose.
The BCCI and the IOA are not known to share a cordial relationship as the latter had hit out at the Board for having decided not to send a team for the Asian Games to be held in China in November.
The BCCI had earlier also turned down the IOA's request to re-schedule the India-Australia series, dates of which clash with the Commonwealth Games.
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