Indian Premier League is Tainted, Jindals Drop Plan to buy Mallya's Royal Challengers bangalore
The recent Indian Premier League betting scandal verdict - the suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in connection with betting - has had an adverse impact on prospective investors.
India's JSW Group, a $11 billion conglomerate with interests ranging from steel to power, is shelving plans to buy a cricket team in the highly profitable Indian Premier League, blaming the "negative aura" of the corruption-hit competition. (IPL betting scam: CSK, RR suspended)
Some of India's biggest corporate names are investors in teams competing in what is the world's most lucrative cricket league -- including Reliance Industries Ltd, builder GMR Infrastructure Ltd, and United Spirits Ltd , owned by British beverages group Diageo Plc. (IPL Scam: Top-Ten Development)
Local media had reported that JSW, controlled by billionaire Sajjan Jindal, was in talks with Diageo to buy United Spirits' stake in Royal Challengers Bangalore in a $100 million deal. The holding is a relic of the time United Spirits was run by flamboyant liquor baron Vijay Mallya. ('Fans Have Been Cheated, Cricket's Purity at Stake')
"I think it's a no at this point of time, purely based on the whole negative aura that has been generated," said Parth Jindal, son of Sajjan Jindal and the family member who oversees the conglomerate's sports interests. (The Rise and Fall of the Indian Premier League Brand)
"We don't want our brand to be associated with a league that is so tainted at the moment." (Sourav Ganguly Hopes The IPL Recovers From Betting Scandal)