IOA Loses Rs 24 Cr Due To Faulty RIL Sponsorship Deal: CAG
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report states that the association should have increased the consideration amount to Rs 59 crore from Rs 35 crore
Due to the national federation’s faulty sponsorship with Reliance Industries or RIL, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) incurred a loss of Rs 24 crore, as per the latest report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The report highlighted that the IOA overlooked its own interest which allowed the RIL to claim the agreement’s benefits.
As per media reports, the agreement which was signed on 1 August 2022, granted the status of official principal partner of the team India’s contingent’s campaign in the 2022, 2026 Asian Games, 2022, 2026 Commonwealth Games, 2024 Paris Olympics and 2028 Los Angeles to Reliance Industries. RIL also got permission to display its brand ‘India House’ during the mentioned events as part of the deal.
Later, the renewal of the agreement took place on 5 December 2023 which made sure that RIL marked its presence at the 2026, 2030 Winter Olympics Games as well as the Youth Olympics Games during the same time period.
The audit report stated, “In view of the above the, IOA did not watch their own interest as there was no change in consideration amount, Rs 35 crore, which was set in the sponsorship agreement signed on 5 December 2023 after giving the rights of four additional games to RIL.”
The CAG stated that the association should have increased the consideration amount to Rs 59 crore from Rs 35 crore as the consideration amount of rights for the six mentioned games stood at Rs 35 crore which breaks down to Rs 6 crore per game on average.
The report pointed out that this faulty agreement with RIL resulted in a loss of Rs 24 crore to the Indian Olympic Association.
