MCA dumps probe panel report on unsold World Cup final tickets

The Mumbai Cricket Association today scrapped a probe committee's report on unsold tickets of the World Cup 2011 final held here, after its newly elected president Sharad Pawar slammed it as "unfair".

Pawar, who was elected unopposed at MCA's biennial polls today, criticised the formation of the panel by asking how Ravi Mandrekar, who had complained about the matter, could be a member of the panel inquring into the issue of over 400 unsold tickets for the April 2, 2011 final between (eventual champions) India and Sri Lanka.

"If you have to enquire into a particular complaint, the complainant himself should not be a member of the inquiry committee. It is totally unfair," said Pawar at the AGM.

"I have not seen the entire report, but I have seen that out of four members only one member has signed.  When only one member signs, it is not a report but the finding of one gentleman," Pawar added.

"I am not aware whether it has been officially received by MCA. But the issue was not even discussed in the MCA managing committee and if these types of reactions go to the media, the intention seems to be just to defame and it is unfair," said Pawar, who was MCA chief when the final between India and Sri Lanka was held on April 2 at Wankhede Stadium.

"This report should be totally rejected. It is a question of unsold tickets and, that is why, I think we should not go into it again and again. The allegation was wrong. The report was not correct. That is why this committee should reject this report and close this chapter here," he said.

Ravi Savant, outgoing MCA chief, accepted Pawar's suggestion, but defended the MCA by saying the report was received only the next day after the article was published.

"It wasn't officially received by MCA till the article came. The next day there was an email from Mandrekar attaching that report, sent to the MCA," Savant said.

MCA has already stated that it never got receipt of the report that was published by a local newspaper which claimed they were the findings of the inquiry committee.