India`s sports power list has brewer, cement maker

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A brewer, a sugar baron and a cement maker are among the most influential people in Indian sport, according to a recent power list, elbowing out some of the country's biggest sports stars themselves.

What's more, the power brokers not only make the rules in India but are also wielding greater influence abroad, from cricket pitches to Formula One tracks.

While iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar tops the Sports Illustrated list, he is followed by Lalit Modi, chief of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket property; Vijay Mallya, brewer and owner of Force India Formula One team, and Sharad Pawar, a sugar baron and president-elect of the International Cricket Council.

Others on the list include Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries the top private company, N. Srinivasan, head of a cement firm and Pawan Munjal, head of Hero Honda Motors.

Sportsmen including world chess champion V. Anand and tennis champion Leander Paes are much farther down on the list.

India has long been witness to the interplay of business and politics in sport, with industrialists patronising domestic cricket and football leagues, and ministers wangling for titles on the numerous boards for various sports in the country.

"Perhaps five years ago, there would've been fewer businessmen on that list, but with the IPL and interest in other sports growing, we are seeing more of them step forward," said Mahesh Ranka, general manager, Relay Worldwide, the sports marketing arm of Starcom MediaVest Group.

"It also provides a way for them to raise their profile, and at the end of the day, it is another business opportunity."

The mix is getting headier as cricket-crazy India tries to shake off its tag as a one-sport nation, and more befitting its stature as a global economic power, with the confidence of its ambitious businessmen spilling into the playing fields.

Flamboyant liquor baron Mallya, who has snapped up several overseas firms recently, bought into the Spyker Formula One team more than two years ago, and renamed it Force India.

The team scored its first points last season, boosting hopes that India might host a F-1 grand prix in 2011.

Big bucks

But it is still cricket that grabs eyeballs, raises passions and brings in the big bucks in India, and also where the juxtaposition of business and politics in sport is most apparent.

Modi, scion of a wealthy industrialist family with ties to politicians and Bollywood stars, has cemented India's position as the game's new commercial hub with the multi-million dollar IPL.

While traditionalists choked on their tea at the IPL games, with their carnival atmosphere, designer uniforms, slick cheerleaders and after parties, big global and local sponsors and new converts, including women and youngsters, cheered.

"From a global perspective he's a gamechanger, the man who has single-handedly transformed cricket in the space of two years," said Jayaditya Gupta, executive editor of ESPNcricinfo.

"What he's done for Indian cricket is less well-defined, but one thing is clear: He's made India the centre of the global cricket economy and (the Indian board) the most powerful cricket organisation. Every other cricket board dances to our tune."

But as with other areas in India where business and politics mix, there is controversy here, too: Last year, Modi went toe-to-toe with Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram when the IPL schedule clashed with the national election.

Modi finally moved the IPL successfully to South Africa.

Now, the nattily dressed Modi finds himself at the centre of a diplomatic battle, after an IPL auction last month ended with no bids for 11 Pakistanis amid fears they could have visa problems following tensions after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

A heated exchange ensued between the two nuclear-armed rivals who have often played cricket to better relations.

But it was commerce that brought cricketers together in the first place, said Sundar Raman, chief executive of IPL.

"It's not IPL's remit to look at geopolitical ramifications. We just hope people will approach this with greater maturity and understand it's just a game of cricket," he said.