Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment, Virat Kohli’s managers for over a decade, have refuted charges of conflict of interest against the India captain.
“This is with reference to the recent “conflict of interest” speculations surrounding Virat and Cornerstone. It is unfortunate to repeatedly see Virat’s name being dragged into absurd allegations every now and then. Such speculations are based entirely on conjecture, nothing more,” said Cornerstone CEO Bunty Sajdeh in a media release.
Sajdeh was reacting to a complaint by Sanjeev Gupta with the BCCI ethics officer DK Jain that Kohli violated rule 38 (4) in the BCCI rulebook, pertaining to conflict of interest.
In his complaint, Gupta has said that Kohli’s co-directors at Virat Kohli Sports LLP and Cornerstone Ventures Pvt Ltd also hold the same position in Cornerstone Sports and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, a company that has India cricketers as clients. The complaint also mentions Chisel, a chain of gym and fitness centres, jointly owned by Kohli, with CSE, a subsidiary of Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment.
Sajdeh said Kohli is nothing more than a contracted client like all other cricketers. “Virat is a contracted, exclusive client of Cornerstone exactly like the rest of our esteemed talent roster. And as a responsible agency, we once again reiterate that there is no question of any conflict of interest with Virat or any other of our talent for that matter.
“Third parties with whatever vested interests prefer to think otherwise. I request them to simply check all facts before jumping to their own conclusions. We carry out our business in a very professional and transparent manner which can be easily verified from the documents filed with public authorities from time to time. This is all we have to say on this matter once and for all.”
{{/usCountry}}“Third parties with whatever vested interests prefer to think otherwise. I request them to simply check all facts before jumping to their own conclusions. We carry out our business in a very professional and transparent manner which can be easily verified from the documents filed with public authorities from time to time. This is all we have to say on this matter once and for all.”
{{/usCountry}}Jain has said he is examining the complaint before deciding if a case is made against Kohli.