CITY BUSINESSMAN and Indian Premier League (IPL) Pune franchise's owner Sanjiv Goenka on Monday refused to comment on the alleged conflict of interest concerning former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly with whom he co-owns the Kolkata franchise of the Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament.
According to espncricinfo.com, Indian cricket board's ombudsman Justice A.P. Shah has asked Ganguly to respond, by January 28, to an allegation of conflict of interest relating to his role on the IPL governing council.
The move comes after Shah received a complaint by Mumbai-based activist Niraj Gunde who has alleged conflict of interest against Ganguly.
Besides being a member of the IPL governing council and the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), Ganguly is a co-owner of Atletico de Kolkata (ATK), which is part of the Kolkata Games and Sports Pvt. Ltd. which owns the ISL franchise.
The other ATK co-owners are Ambuja Neotia Group chairman Harshavardhan Neotia, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka and Utsav Parekh.
"I have nothing to say in this matter," is what Goenka offered when media persons sought his view over the issue.
Goenka, who during the day announced "Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG)" as the name of his IPL franchise and M.S. Dhoni as the skipper, denied Ganguly having played any role in the cricket team.