HCA breaks silence on SRH alleging ‘blackmail, threats’ over ticketing demands

The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) convened a meeting with Sunrisers Hyderabad officials on Tuesday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in response to reports that the franchise accused the president of the state body of blackmail and threatening its staff at the home venue. SRH representatives Kiran, Saravanan, and Rohit Suresh attended the meeting.

On Sunday, Cricbuzz reported that the SRH team, owned by the Chennai-based Sun Group, alleged that HCA president Jagan Mohan Rao repeatedly resolved “blackmailing tactics” over ticketing demands. The franchise even sought the help of BCCI and the IPL Governing Council.

“It is the HCA President Mr. Jagan Mohan Rao who is resorting to threats, coercion and blackmail. Even before the IPL started, Rao threatened our staff with coercion, who in return out of fear wrote an email to him, placing on record the threat he made,” a recent SRH communique, sent to the HCA Apex Council members, said.

SRH even accused Rao of locking the entire corporate box hours before the match against Lucknow Super Giants on March 27, despite knowing that the zone was booked for LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka. “This was done just to blackmail us and put coercive pressure on us to give additional 20 complimentary tickets before the game,” the mail read.

However, HCA denied the allegations on Tuesday.

“During the discussions, SRH proposed strictly adhering to the existing tri-party agreement between SRH, HCA, and BCCI, ensuring that 10% of the available stadium capacity across all sections is allocated accordingly. HCA, in turn, proposed maintaining the existing allocation of passes in each category, in line with the long-standing practice followed over the years,” read the press release issued by SRH and HCA.

After further deliberations with SRH CEO Shanmugam, three resolutions were agreed upon:

1. The category allocation of 3900 complimentary passes to HCA will remain unchanged, consistent with established practice.

2. HCA has assured SRH that they will fully cooperate with SRH in a professional manner.

3. HCA and SRH remain committed to working together amicably to enhance the spectator experience at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.