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- Dubai 04:25 05:43 12:19 15:46 18:50 20:09
Members of India's squad hold the trophy during celebrations after they defeated Sri Lanka during their ICC Cricket World Cup final match in Mumbai. (REUTERS)
The World Cup trophy given to Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was original while the one seized by Indian customs has been sent back to the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) head office in Dubai, said a senior official.
James Fitzgerald, the ICC Media and Communications Manager, told Gulf News that the trophy was original and media reports are erroneous and mischievous.
"The trophy seized by Mumbai customs is the promotional trophy which remains in the keeping of ICC at its headquarters in Dubai," he was quoted as saying on the daily’s website.
Earlier, in what can only be classified under the ‘It happens only in India’ file, the controversy surrounding the World Cup trophy handed to the winning Indian cricket team, refused to die down.
While, the International Cricket Council (ICC) moved quickly to defuse the tension, rubbishing media reports that the ICC had presented India with a duplicate World Cup trophy at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, the Indian media were still not convinced. And the Indian customs authorities did little to clarify the situation.
The ICC statement said: "There is no question that this was a replica. The trophy presented to India indeed carries the specific event logo of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and has always been the cup that the 14 teams were playing for."
"The trophy seized by Mumbai customs is the promotional, perpetual trophy which remains in the keeping of ICC at its headquarters in Dubai. It carries the generic ICC corporate logo rather than the logo specific to the 2011 event. That trophy will be reclaimed today and will travel back to Dubai with ICC staff as was always intended," a media release said.
However, Indian newspaper reports still a BCCI source not retracting his statement that: "The original is lying with the Customs."
A Customs source also said “the Cup: was with them for non-payment of duty of 35 per cent of the original value.
"We will release it after payment of 35 per cent customs duty after its valuation," they said.
And questions abound.
If the 'perpetual trophy' had no role to play, why was it being brought into Mumbai for the final? Was the ICC trying to cover up? Was it that, like many trophies, the 'perpetual trophy' was the running trophy, to be presented at the ceremonial award ceremony, and after the victory lap, taken back and a replica given to the winner?
The Cup, meanwhile, has been in the forefront of the celebrations by the entire Indian nation with players even posing with it along with President Pratibha Patil at the Raj Bhavan yesterday.
The captain of the winning team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been photographed and caught on television cameras carrying the replica to the iconic Gateway of India opposite the team hotel yesterday.
Man of the Tournament, Yuvraj Singh, has been kissing the replica repeatedly in delight.
As the questions came angry and fast, the Customs department came out with a technical explanation. It said this particular trophy being carried into India by two ICC officials was not in the list of ICC goods exempted from duty; hence it was detained and duty was levied on it. According to the Times of India, however, the ICC said it would not pay and instead carry the trophy back to Dubai.
Australia, the 2003 winner, didn't like the idea of having to give back a Cup that it had won. Hence, said the ICC, a new system was devised. Both in 2007 and 2011, the 'perpetual trophy' was used only for promotional purposes and the winner was given a trophy specially made for that particular edition of the World Cup. No one had been cheated, said the ICC, nothing really had gone amiss.
ICC president Sharad Pawar insisted to TOI that the perpetual trophy was only for promotional purposes. In this case, it had been taken for display at the Colombo semifinal, while the other was at Mohali for display at the India-Pakistan match, he said. ICC Cup coordinator Dhiraj Malhotra said the same.
A search of World Cup pictures of the 2003, 2007 and 2011 seemed to bear out the ICC version. The 2003 Cup is indeed different from the 2007 and 2011 trophies.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) also moved in by evening to clarify that the trophy had been retained by the Customs at the ICC's request. It said two passengers, Emma Waite and Rixon Heyder, brought it in from Colombo as part of their "personal baggage". It was not part of the list of items temporarily imported by ICC and hence exempt from duties. ICC itself had written saying that the trophy in question was not to be used for any purpose inside India, said the CBEC.
The Customs added that "in order to remove all doubts the concerned customs officers contacted ICC tournament director Ratnakar Shetty and enquired about the said trophy so that appropriate action could be taken expeditiously and the matter resolved." And Shetty wrote back saying, "We hereby request your office to hold the trophy in the customs warehouse at the airport until it is collected by the above passengers."
However, Dhiraj Malhotra had an interesting twist to give to this baffling controversy. He said this 'perpetual trophy', now at a Customs warehouse, had gone in and out of the country several times during the tournament. "I myself carried it to Mumbai from Bangladesh after the inaugural match. So, I don't know why it was detained this time," he told TOI.
If this was really the case, why did the Customs act this time? Was it sheer cussedness? Said BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla: "How can the Customs people do this? There must be a relook at laws on international trophies and medals. How can there be a duty on them?" How indeed?
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