New Delhi: Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli has reportedly invested in the online gaming platform – Mobile Premier League, which is the present merchandise partner of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
As per a report in Indian Express, Kohli was allotted the Compulsory Convertible Debentures (CCDs) in the Galactus Funware in February 2019. Galactus which has headquarters in Bengaluru is a subsidiary of M-League Pvt Ltd, a company registered in Singapore in April 2018.
The RCB skipper was allotted a total of 68 CCDs with a face value of Rs 10, each issued at a premium of Rs 48,990 which rounds off to around Rs 33.32 lakh by the Bangalore-based company Galactus Funware Technology Private Limited. The CCDs will be converted into equity shares at the end of ten years following which Kohli will have a 0.051 per cent stake in the company.
The board made MPL Sports a kit sponsor and merchandise partner on 17 November 2020. The company owns the online gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL).
Galactus Funware also issued 34 CCDs worth Rs 16.66 lakh to Cornerstone Sport LLP in the same meeting where Kohli was allotted the CCDs. Cornerstone LLP’s CEO Amit Arjun Sajdeh is Kohli’s partner in two other firms – Magpie Venture Partners LLP and Virat Kohli Sports LLP. However, Sajdeh has rebuffed any potential conflict of interest claims, the report further added.
“I have said this time and again, Virat and Cornerstone are free to invest in as many businesses as they wish to. There is no conflict whatsoever as long as Virat is not invested in Cornerstone,” Sajdeh was quoted as saying to IE.
Speaking about the same, a BCCI official pointed out that such ‘inter-connections’ are not ideal for good governance as Kohli is an influential figure in Indian cricket.
“He (Kohli) is an influential figure in Indian cricket and such interconnections aren’t ideal for good governance,” the BCCI official was quoted as saying to IE.
