The Indian Premier League (IPL) is likely to contribute Rs 160-200 crore to government coffers in 2008-09 by way of tax deducted at source (TDS), a hefty increase over Rs 60 crore in 2007-08.

“TDS from IPL stakeholders stood at Rs 60 crore in 2007-08 and this amount does not include three IPL franchisees, who had not deposited tax by March 31,” said Saroj Bala, member (revenue), Central Board of Direct Taxes. Given that the tourney may now be held twice a year, collections would only go up.Payments made to cricketers playing in the tournament will attract a higher rate of TDS at 11.33 per cent, on a par with professionals like engineers and doctors, as against the current rate of 2.33 per cent. A proposal in this regard is awaiting final approval at the Finance Ministry. In fact, all sportspersons are likely to be included in the professionals category for tax purposes.Bala added TDS collections may grow 55 per cent in 2008-09, up from about 51 per cent in 2007-08.On the issue of whether transfer or sale of one player from one frachisee to another will be treated as a capital gain or profit, Bala said the matter will be decided once a committee appointed for the purpose submits its report in a few days.

The taxability of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the organiser of the IPL, is under examination by the department.It is expected that the income tax exemption available to BCCI may be withdrawn, following a recent amendment to the Income Tax Act to exclude commercial entities from the definition of charity.

Source: business-standard.com

CRICKET’S administrators have been warned that the Indian Premier League possesses the greatest potential for betting-led corruption since the days of the troubled Sharjah tournaments.

Anti-Corruption and Security Unit chairman Paul Condon last week told the executive International Cricket Council board meeting in Dubai that the IPL, with its millions of dollars on offer and lack of policing, was open to corrupting influences. According to the Cricket Nirvana website, Condon warned the executives that “the IPL brings with it the biggest threat in terms of corruption in the game since the days of cricket in Sharjah.”

The Sharjah tournaments during the 1980s and 90s were strongly rumoured to have been a hotbed for illegal bookmaking and match-fixing, resulting in India banning its national team from playing in the emirate in 2001.

Sources contacted by the Herald have confirmed this indeed is the sentiment held by the ACSU in regards to the lucrative Twenty20 league. Whereas the unit has tried to lessen the potential impact of corrupting influences by reducing meaningless one-day tournaments and implementing team and player rankings system, security officials feel the 20-over game is, at this stage, counter-evolutionary.

At the elite level, Twenty20 internationals are scheduled in a desultory manner, and have no points-based rankings system. In the IPL, a multimillion-dollar tournament that falls outside the jurisdiction of the ACSU, the hype and publicity have attracted a legion of fans and, inevitably, illegal bookmakers. Where they exist, the potential for corruption remains. And according to sources in the ACSU, more must be done within the IPL to safeguard the game from corruption.

The ACSU has been largely successful in restoring credibility to the game since the damaging match-fixing scandals that resulted in life bans to three international captains: Hansie Cronje, Salim Malik and Mohammad Azharuddin. Regular policing, a ban on communication devices in dressing rooms, a comprehensive player education program and the rankings system are among the methods employed to minimise the impact of illegal bookmakers and their attempts to corrupt cricketers.

Cricket Australia is seeking to take the rankings system and Future Tours Program a step further by repackaging Test, one-day and Twenty20 cricket. Chief executive James Sutherland revealed a plan to the ICC meeting whereby teams would compete in all three modes of the game over a four-year cycle, with finalists to play-off for a world championship trophy in each respective discipline at the conclusion.

“Let’s face it, generally speaking, the FTP is currently a hotch-potch of bilateral tour arrangements that, given the current volume of international cricket, produces matches that no longer linger in the memory or have lasting meaning,” Sutherland said.

He added that a quadrennial championship would provide an “unambiguous world champion in each four-year cycle [and] offered a chance to provide fans with context without damaging the essential character of Test cricket, which is the premier form of the game.”

Sutherland called on cricket administrators not to allow Twenty20 cricket to consume the 50-over game. He also urged other member nations – most notably the Board of Control for Cricket in India – to uphold the principle that international cricket is the pinnacle of the sport, not privately funded domestic Twenty20 leagues.

“Unfortunately, in my view, there is currently too much talk of ODI cricket as the problem child or the ugly duckling,” Sutherland told the ICC members forum. “The financial success of the modern game has been built on ODI cricket. We owe it to ourselves to ensure that ODI cricket continues to be a popular force in the game.”
Source: smh.com.au

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has not formed a window to accommodate the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) in its current Future Tours Programme (FTP).

However, the ICC said that a window for IPL can be created in its new FTP model, which will be done after the current international schedule gets over in May 2012.

“The ICC has not received any official request from the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) as of now for creating such a window,” ICC acting chief executive Dave Richardson told IANS here Thursday, the second day of the annual ICC board meeting.

“No decision has been made on creating such windows as of now,” he added.

During the ongoing ICC board meeting here, the Australian cricket board has given a presentation on the concept of an alternative structure to bilateral tours, including an enhanced Test Championship.

“It is too early to divulge the specifics yet but all boards have been given a copy of the presentation,” Richardson said at a press conference, adding that all members have expressed great keenness in the concept of Test Championship.

According to an official statement issued here, all ICC directors would report back to their respective boards to obtain updated financial information and feedback to enable a refined model to be prepared by the world body, which will be done in its chief executive committee meeting in January 2009.

ICC’s key considerations while preparing the new format are: “All three formats of international cricket should be protected and promoted with Test cricket identified as the pinnacle of the sport; the ‘icon’ Test series must be protected; ICC should look at ways of taking greater central ‘ownership’ of international cricket outside its events or at least providing for more consistency in marketing and promotion; and the concept of a Test championship and/or play-off should be explored further.”
Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Melbourne: The International Cricket Council (ICC) is likely to include Indian Premier League in its calendar.The multimillion dollar Twenty20 tournament has been included in the final draft of a radical proposal to revamp ICC’s international programming.

The suggested schedule includes IPL and will be presented to the ICC’s executive board in Dubai over the next two days, according to a report in The Australian newspaper.Leading players and player associations have demanded a space for the IPL for fear that emerging cricketers will abandon playing for their country and instead take the big money on offer in the IPL.

A recent survey by the Federation of International Players Associations (FICA) showed that more than half of the 64 players polled from seven of the nine active Test countries, including Australia, were willing to sacrifice the end of their international career for IPL money.The new proposal has each of the nine active Test nations playing each other over a two-year period in three-Test series.The top four nations would then play semi-finals and a final in the third year, while the fourth year of the cycle would be kept free for “icon” series such as the Ashes.

The current future-tours program, which runs on a six-year cycle, does not end until 2012 but the ICC has already begun discussing what will replace it.
Source: sify.com