CAG says Kalmadi & Co played games in hiring consultants

Skeletons continue to tumble out of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) organising committee’s cupboard.

In an inspection report released on Thursday, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) alleged that dubious procedures were followed in selecting consultants to select sponsors for the event and sell its international broadcasting rights.

The report cites several instances where the organising committee (OC) suffered losses. It says OC hired Fast Track Sales Limited as a consultant for selling international broadcasting rights on the recommendation of chairman Suresh Kalmadi, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell and CEO Mike Hooper.

As per the report, the hiring without due diligence and deficiencies in services provided by the consultants resulted in a projected loss of Rs24.60 crore for OC.

It notes that Fast Track Sales Limited proposed a higher commission of 15% as against 12.5% offered by Melbourne-based Sports Marketing and Management (SMAM), putting an additional burden of Rs5.2 crore on OC.

The report says OC did not adopt a competitive bidding process while striking a sponsorship deal with SMAM and ended up paying an additional commission of Rs25.31 crore.

A few days ago, OC terminated SMAM contract on grounds of “nonperformance”, a charge the company refuted.

In a report released last year, CAG drawn the government’s attention to the slow progress of all Games-related projects.
Secretary general Lalit Bhanot, however, defended OC decisions.

“It’s an inspection report. Fast Track is a well-known and experienced company. It had successfully worked for Melbourne and other Commonwealth Games,” he said.

Bhanot said: “The end result is they [Fast Track] have doubled the revenue we targetted. We have earned more. We also did not want all contracts to go to one company.”

Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Hooper also defended Fast Track, saying it had a good record.