The curious case of the missing MCA report

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) was abuzz yesterday after the inquiry report into the 2011 World Cup tickets sales fiasco was leaked to the media.

A general view of the Wankhede Stadium during the 2011 WC

According to findings, the inquiry committee observed that 525 tickets for the final at the Wankhede Stadium went unsold instead of the 405 tickets that were reported earlier.u00a0MCA president Ravi Savant, however, claimed that the report has not been submitted to him yet. Convenor of the inquiry committee and MCA treasurer, Mayank Khandwala also denied receiving the report.

"I have no knowledge about the authenticity of the report that was published. I am also not aware of the inquiry report being submitted. There is no entry in MCA's inward register. I have asked the president and joint secretaries to investigate into the leaked report and bring it up for discussion in the managing committee meeting tomorrow," Khandwala said.

Several MCA officials have questioned the authenticity of the report. "The report has not been signed by the other three members (chairman advocate Avinash Rana, Deepak Thakre and Vivek Kantawala) of the inquiry committee. Only Ravi Mandrekar, who was doing all the investigations, has signed it. Unless all members sign the report, it cannot be termed authentic," an MCA official said.

The WC ticket signed by MS Dhoni. Pics/Getty Images

The moot point here is if the report has not been submitted, then how do these officials know that relevant signatures are missing?u00a0The timing of the leak of this important document is also being questioned. "Why was it leaked only a few days before the MCA elections (October 18) when the report was ready last month? This has been done to gain mileage and earn voters' confidence," said an official.

Mandrekar has filed his nomination for the vice-president and treasurer's post.u00a0He crushed the theory of non-receipt of the report and countered doubts raised regarding its authenticity. "I submitted the report to get signatures of other inquiry committee members. We were to meet on October 8 but nobody turned up.

"When I went to submit the report (on October 10), Mr Khandwala was not present. So I submitted it to the secretary Dr PV Shetty," said Mandrekar.
He also clarified his stance on the report being submitted close to the elections.

"For the record, I am not contesting and I'll withdraw my nominations today. So being biased is out of question now," said Mandrekar. Meanwhile, the MCA yesterday issued a notice, barring all press reporters and photographers from entering the Association premises without permission.