The Cricket Association of Bengal’s Eden Gardens sponsorship plan has hit the Board of Control for Cricket in India roadblock as the Board rules do not allow any stadium "to sell its naming rights to a company," according to Shamik Chakrabarty of the INDIAN EXPRESS. According to a CAB source, BCCI President Shashank Manohar had been "made privy to the initiative" but he "flatly denied this." He said, “No communication has been made with me in this regard. The BCCI rules are clear; no stadium should be named after a company, because for the ICC (or other) events, there could be a conflict between the interest of sponsors. We have to take this into account before allocating matches. The issue would have to be discussed threadbare with the BCCI before we take a decision.” Asked about the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune, he said, “That’s his name. His name is printed as Subrata Roy Sahara on the passport. A stadium can be named after an individual.” The CAB under its new President Sourav Ganguly "has decided to sell the naming rights of the Eden Gardens under the pretext that it will help the state association" earn in excess of Rs 5 crore ($785,000) every year. A CAB office-bearer said that the working committee also "approved the proposal to give scoreboard sponsorship to Reliance Jio, a brand under the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries." The committee "felt the company would be able to strike a deal with the ICC despite the fact that the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) is an official partner of the world body." More precisely, Eden Gardens "is home venue of Kolkata Knight Riders, a direct rival of Mumbai Indians, which is owned by Mukesh Ambani" (INDIAN EXPRESS, 1/7).
