A new controversy has erupted in the auction process of the IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals. The Somani Group, led by US businessman Kal Somani, involved in the process, has raised serious questions about the auction process. The group issued a press release on Tuesday, expressing its deep disappointment. They allege that the final decision was not fair and they were not given a level playing field. The Somani Group states that they were leading the race for the past six months and had never withdrawn their bid. Some media reports had claimed that the Somani Group had withdrawn its name. Recently, veteran industrialist Lakshmi Niwas Mittal and his son Aditya Mittal, along with Adar Poonawalla, have acquired a 93% stake in Rajasthan Royals for approximately ₹15,600 crore ($1.65 billion). According to the new deal, Lakshmi Mittal’s family will hold approximately 75% stake in the Rajasthan Royals, while Adar Poonawalla will have an 18% share. The remaining 7% stake will remain with the old investor, Manoj Badale and others. The team’s new board will include Lakshmi Mittal, Aditya Mittal, Vanisha Mittal-Bhatia, Adar Poonawalla, and Manoj Badale. With this major change, the Rajasthan Royals have now become one of the most expensive teams in the IPL. Somani Group alleges that process was not transparent The Somani Group (which included stalwarts from Walmart and Ford Group) states that their bid was for $1.63 billion and they were fully prepared to close the deal. They alleged that despite having sufficient funding, their bid was overlooked at the last moment. According to the group, the lack of transparency and integrity in such a large auction is concerning. “We are deeply disappointed not to be part of the Rajasthan Royals ownership group, following a long six-month process in which we were the lead bid from start to finish,” a part of Somani’s statement read. “We do not believe the outcome ultimately reflected a level playing field, and it is difficult to reconcile the strength of our bid and preparedness to close with the final decision. While we respect competitive outcomes, we also believe that processes of this significance should be conducted with transparency, consistency, integrity and in good faith,” it added. Existing owners pointed out lapses in documentation According to sources, the existing owners of Rajasthan Royals (Manoj Badale and others) found some technical and documentary deficiencies in the Somani Group’s bid. During the investigation, the Somani Group’s papers did not meet the prescribed standards, due to which the Mittal Group’s bid was approved. However, the Somani Group has outright rejected these claims, calling them an attempt to tarnish their image. Rajasthan Royals became champions in 2008 Under Shane Warne’s captaincy, the Rajasthan Royals won the first season of the IPL in 2008. Since then, the team has reached the final only once in 2022, which they lost to the Gujarat Titans. RR was banned for 2 years Rajasthan Royals were banned for 2 years due to the spot-fixing case that emerged in 2015. After investigation, the Lodha Committee found the team’s co-owner Raj Kundra, guilty of betting. Because of this, both the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings were excluded from the 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons. Later, in 2018, the Rajasthan Royals made a comeback to the IPL. Post navigation MLA ticket controversy could force final out of Bengaluru:Playoffs likely to be played in Punjab and Karnataka
