Controversy-ridden DDCA spent crores on buying 'free' IPL tickets: Report

Tickets for the match were reportedly purchased by the DDCA from GMR Sports Pvt Ltd, the owners of the Delhi Daredevils, for double the price of what tickets actually cost.

New Delhi: Even as the ongoing Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) controversy of the misappropriation of funds shows no sign of abatement, a new scam surfaced regarding the buying of bulk Indian Premier League (IPL) tickets in double the price, worth several crores.

A report in dna on Sunday, which claimed to have possession of incriminating documents, internal emails and audit reports, revealed that DDCA office-bearers were using the association's funds to purchase tickets from GMR for various IPL matches held at Delhi despite being entitled to complimentary tickets.

Tickets for the match were purchased by the DDCA from GMR Sports Pvt Ltd, the owners of the Delhi Daredevils franchise, for double the price of what tickets actually cost, the report added.

According to a tripartite agreement, the DDCA was to be provided 15% of each category of tickets "free of charge" by GMR Sports Pvt Ltd, which calculates to 6,300 complimentary tickets.

However, the functionaries of the association including its president Sneh Prakash Bansal, asked GMR for tickets. And the association's funds were used to purchase the tickets.

Strangely, no one knows what were the tickets used for.

But, Sameer Bahadur of the NCT Cricket Association says, "Most of these tickets were sold in black by DDCA officials. Since none of them paid from it from their pockets, most ended up minting enormous money from its sale. Money was minted from tickets in every conceivable way."

The DDCA came under scrutiny after Kirti Azad had raised the issue of financial irregularities within the association.

On a complaint filed by Bishen Singh Bedi and other cricketers, the Delhi Government had ordered a probe into the issue, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hitting out at Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over alleged corruption during his tenure as DDCA President.

(With dna inputs)