Sports minister slams CAB for Eden mess

Eden Gardens is slated to host seven home matches of the Kolkata team for the 45-day IPL carnival, slated to begin on April 18. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh8217;s company Red Chillies Entertainment owns the Kolkata team that will be led by Sourav Ganguly.

8220;The CAB hasn8217;t yet taken any permission or given any intimation to the state sports ministry regarding staging of the IPL matches at the Eden Gardens. For the IPL tournament, the CAB has to formally take our permission, but we have had no such intimation yet. I hope the CAB gets back to us in time,8221; Chakraborty said.

The maverick minister8217;s comments comes as a fresh headache for the CAB, which is already reeling under the pressure from various dissident factions in the Kolkata Maidan.

The CAB, however, is in no mood to admit the mistake. CAB joint-secretary Amitava Banerjee argues that it isn8217;t yet time to formally inform the state sports minister about their IPL plans. 8220;Why should we inform the sports minister right now? It8217;s simply too early to do so. It is only after the Special General Meeting SGM on February 26 that we will know for certain that we are hosting IPL matches. Only then will we be in a position to formally inform the sports minister.