SRH Accuses HCA President of Blackmail and Coercion in the Matter of Ticketing Dispute

Sunrisers Hyderabad has made serious allegations against the Hyderabad Cricket Association president. They have charged him with blackmailing and threatening their staff at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. The issue has resulted in tension between the franchise and the association. The trouble began when the HCA president padlocked corporate boxes hours before SRH's match against Lucknow Super Giants. It was done to try and intimidate SRH into handing out additional complimentary tickets. The management of the team has also reported the matter to the Board of Control for Cricket in India. They have expressed gratitude to other officials at HCA for their compliance. Nevertheless, they have made it plain that the president's actions have caused undue inconvenience to the franchise.

SRH has produced evidence that their personnel were intimidated even before the commencement of the IPL. The president of HCA reportedly made them comply with his requirements. In fear, SRH employees sent an email claiming they had been threatened. The issues still persisted despite this. Prior to the game against LSG, the president locked the F3 corporate box. This specific box was reserved for the owner of LSG. SRH alleges this was done to put pressure and compel them into issuing 20 additional free tickets. The franchise has pointed out that such is not how professional cricket clubs should conduct business.

The second major concern mooted by SRH is requesting ticket blocks. The president asked them to reserve 10% of the tickets for himself. This translates into 3900 tickets per match. This apart from the already allocated 3900 tickets given to the HCA. SRH declined this request since they thought it would be unjust to their fans. They feared that it would also cast a shadow over the transparency of ticket sales. The president insisted nonetheless. He then lowered his request to 2500 tickets and asked for individual payment links. SRH consented to blocking 1000 tickets due to compulsion. When the president declined accepting this amount, they raised the price to 2000 tickets. But they wouldn't prepare separate payment links. SRH told them to accept all the payments officially by making a transaction on the HCA bank account in order to have transparency. Once this happened, the president fell silent.

SRH has also reacted against criticism regarding giving out free tickets. They passed 3900 free tickets for each match to HCA. But 20 tickets from one section were returned with a request to replace them with tickets from another section. SRH has categorically denied that they had given only 3880 tickets as claimed. They also rejected the claim that their officials had agreed to give additional tickets. They only proposed finding a solution in a formal meeting. They noted that ticket distribution had been carried out in the same manner for more than a decade without any issue.

Another grievance of SRH is that the president has been taking credit for stadium upgrades. The franchise has claimed that they have spent plenty of money in upgrading the stadium. They have painted the whole venue, upgraded the toilets, renovated the corporate suites, and installed new air conditioning units. But even with all of these, the president of HCA took credit for these. He even had interviews saying that it was him who brought about the renovations. When SRH challenged him on this in an email, he just issued a tweet acknowledging their work rather than a statement. The franchise has made it known that this is not right.

SRH is paying Rs 1 crore as fee to the HCA for hosting each IPL match at the ground. Despite that, they are creating unnecessary problems for themselves. The franchise has asked for a formal meeting with the HCA Apex Council. They wish to submit all the documents they have collected. They have clarified that only the president is acting in an unprofessional manner. They have no issues with other officials. SRH has reported that they wanted to settle the issues amicably all the time. However, once the president locked up the corporate box and utilized it as a leverage for tickets, they had to take the issue to the next level.

The franchise is anticipating a reply from the HCA on the meeting request. They are hoping the issues will get settled soon. In the meantime, SRH has gone on to thank other HCA officials for their understanding. They feel that a direct talk will clear all doubts and establish a just system. The fans also wish that the problem does not interfere with the free flow of matches in Hyderabad. For the time being, everyone is waiting for the HCA to answer back to SRH's request.