Mandira Time

Mandira Time

Indian Holocaust My fathers Life and Time-SIXTY EIGHT

Palash Biswas


The cricket World Cup officially opened on Sunday with a colourful but low key ceremony.

It Is Mandira Time.
24 days,576 hours hence India is again going to be in the grip of a nationwide mania. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 kicks of in exactly 24 days, and this comes about an year after the amazing Football World Cup 2006. Just like it is with any world cup this one too is expected to have a huge global television audienceWest Indies legend Sir Garfield Sobers officially declared the 2007 Cricket World Cup open early on Monday morning (IST) at the Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica. Indian viewers, however, were not been able to see the glittering three-hour-long event live on television. The deferred telecast will be shown later in the day.The ceremony featured over 2,000 singers, dancers and other performers who had been rehearsing for three months. The theme was 'West Indian Energy', and it showcased the rich cultural heritage of the region.

It is not cricket all over but the money is involved everywhere!

Most commercials are either about cricket or endorsed by cricketers. Reportedly 30-40 per cent of the ad spend this year will be on cricket. Not that it’s anything new. Last World Cup saw more than 60 commercials centred on cricket.

There was the hugely successful Pepsi campaign, “Nothing official about it” during the 1996 World Cup where Pepsi cheekily stole the limelight from the official sponsor Coke. The Adidas ad with Sachin Tendulkar had the entire country at a standstill as the master blaster took the pitch. There is an old lady counting her rosary beads, who erupts in delight when Sachin hits a six. Then there was the Cadbury commercial, where the girl runs past security, to the batsman, to celebrate a shot.


Soft drink major Coca Cola today said it will launch a new advertisement campaign tomorrow as part of its marketing communication strategy for 2007. The punchline for the campaign would be "Sabka Thanda Ek", Coca Cola said in a release.

Popular televison anchor Mandira Bedi will again dazzle viewers during the coverage of the Cricket World Cup next month. This time she will drape sarees, specially designed by fashion house Satya Paul.The five saris will be auctioned by online website eBay after the mega event and will include flags of the participating nations, signatures of players, a red cricket ball, newspaper mastheads and cricket figurines.The collection, which has been titled 'Bowled On The Run-Way', will be auctioned and its proceeds will be donated to a charitable organisation Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA) association, which looks after disabled artists.

"For the first time I will be wearing saris that have been designed on the cricketing theme. I am also very happy to be part of a good cause," said Mandira, a function organised to unveil the collection in New Delhi on Friday.

eBay also announced the launch of their Cricket Mania campaign to support the Indian team during their World Cup campaign. It will also donate Rs 5 to MFPA for every 'Go India Go' wristband that is auctioned during the event.

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The Delhi High Court has been informed that private sports channel SetMax, in collaboration with Nimbus Communications, has signed an agreement with public broadcaster Prasar Bharti to provide live feed of the cricket World Cup matches.

Appearing before a bench of Justices Vikramajit Sen and J P Singh, Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra said an agreement had been signed between Prasar Bharti and SetMax to provide live feed of all the World Cup matches to be played in the West Indies from March 14.

Nimbus Communications, the owner of the NEO Sports channel, will provide the live feed to SetMax, counsel for Prasar Bharti Rajiv Sharma said.

Racist ad 'its tough being a West Indian in India' gets Nimbus in deep trouble
Media Release
The ministry took cognisance of the reports saying the ad campaign, with its punch line 'its tough being a West Indian in India', had racial overtones as it showed West Indians in poor light because of their skin colour.


The sight of all the players together, and the camaraderie in their ranks, gave local enthusiasts a first glimpse of what the organisers hoped to communicate through their theme song for the tournament, which is called 'the game of love and unity'.
The cricket mania in India would leave an onlooker amazed and wonderstruck. Go to any part in Indian from Jammu and Kashmirin the north to Kerala and Tamilnadu in the south or from Maharashtra in the west to Assam in the east, you would definitely spot a bunch of boys busy with a cricket bat (or may be it's poorer version) hitting a ball. The British brought the game of cricket to India. Initially only the Parsi community of western India, who were rather close to the British Officials, started playing the game. In course of time the game found favor with the Indian royalty. Some of the Indian Maharajahs even gained favor with the British for their cricketing merits. After India gained Independence in 1947, the British left, but the legacy remained. It did not take long for Indians to make it to the international arena.

But the huge cricket mania in India has undeniably turned the sport into a large industry in the country. A lot of money spins around the sport and multiplies its effect in the national economy to the benefit of everybody. The Stock Exchange Index rises and falls and elections are won or lost centering round the sentiment of cricket. Top rung corporate organizations eye the Indian market to launch a product or sponsor a game.


If you wondered why, reasons are many. That India often makes it to the top teams of cricket, scores high among the reasons. In its nearly 60 years of history after independence, the biggest international success of India is the World Cup victory in 1983, which the Indians still hold dear to heart. Subsequent appreciable performances in other World Cups and international tournaments have much to do with the huge popularity of cricket in India.


As many as 25,000 people at the Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica got to see Sir Garfield Sobers declaring the World Cup open.

With the long grand opening now out of the way, it's time to get down to serious business. Pakistan and West Indies will be the first to do that, as they face each other in the first game of the tournament in Jamaica on Tuesday.
Although cricket is not the official national sport in India, it begets much more excitement and a greater fan following than the official national sport Hockey. Why only hockey? In fact no other sport in India can claim the position of cricket in respect to its popularity and revenue generation.

People work out their social events, leaves from office and travel plans tallying with the Indian cricket team's schedule. There are several instances of Indian cricket fans arranging elaborate pujahs or going on a ceremonial fast on the eve of a final game of a significant international tournament.

The flip side of this does exist. Streets, offices, schools and hospitals run empty on a day when the Indian side locks horn with Pakistan in a sensitive match anywhere in the world. Incidents of heart attacks during a nail-biting finish or even suicide at the loss of Indian side have also been known to occur.

Money, money, money, The Financial expressstory published on 12 March,2007

Minus cash, it’s just not cricket

Posted online: Monday, March 12, 2007 at 0000 hours IST


The World Cup is upon us, and a billion hopes and several billion dollars are at stake. Naturally, it has become nearly impossible to be an Indian and think of cricket or the World Cup without thinking of money. And it is equally inevitable that if the Indian team performs below expectations in any match, editorials and letters to editors will bristle that these men are interested only in making money and not in giving their best for the country. The SMS that went around during the last World Cup after India collapsed against Australia in a league match, calling for products that cricketers endorse to be boycotted, may reappear. Yet, though many find the commercialisation of cricket crass, it has been crucial to India’s rise as a world cricketing power. And it has had other virtuous effects that are little talked about.
Look at the composition of the current team, the team that Ganguly built and Dravid leads. If it was not for the big money that talented Indian cricketers can today earn, would a Harbhajan Singh, an Irfan Pathan, a Munaf Patel or a Virender Sehwag have ever risked betting their lives on this game? If the economics of cricket had not been transformed in the two decades following India’s World Cup victory in 1983, the Indian team would possibly still be largely a collection of men from upper-middle-class families, except for one or two Kapil Dev-esque exceptions. The commercialisation of Indian cricket has allowed the game to become a powerful engine of social and economic mobility. And for every Sehwag, every Irfan, there are a thousand youngsters practicing in fields and parks across the country who know that if they have the talent, they can get rich and rewrite the destinies of their kith and kin. If all those consumer brands weren’t around clamouring to thicken cricketers’ wallets, Sehwag would possibly be sitting in his father’s shop today, Harbhajan would have taken up the Indian Railways job that he would have been entitled to after his father’s death, Irfan would be helping his father at the mosque he is caretaker of. And a billion Indians wouldn’t have been considering the possibility of the World Cup coming back to India.

What are our chances of winning the 2007 World Cup?

Sachin Tendulkar: We have a very good chance of winning. It's not always about the composition of the team. It is more important to get into a rhythm and then sustain it. We struggled at the start of the 2003 tournament because the momentum was not with us. But once we gained it, we beat every side except Australia.

If we win the World Cup, will it be the greatest day of your cricket career?

Sachin Tendulkar: Undoubtedly. It can't get bigger than that. Lifting the World Cup is every cricketer's dream.

(An exclusive feature for Sify from PMG)


`To answer your other question, first, it shows that Indian team has been very strong since 1983, and hence it has always been considered a favourite to win the World Cup. It shows the level and standard of our cricketers. Now, about your main question. You must remember that India had reached the final of the last World Cup in South Africa. It is a different matter altogether, though, that Ricky Ponting simply snatched it from us by playing that blazing knock. But till then we were so close to winning. So this is how it goes. It can be any time. It is only a question of looking at your own potential and ability. Rahul Dravid's boys have in them plenty to win this World Cup.’

Are there any players you consider key to India's fortunes at the World Cup?

We have plenty of key players, not just one or two who could be too good for the opposition. Even Virender Sehwag is a key player, regardless of his lack of form lately. If he gets going, he should be a very important player. We have Mahendra Singh Dhoni, too, who has the ability to change the complexion of any match. Then, of course, there is Sachin Tendulkar, who can do anything with the bat. Dravid and Yuvraj Singh are also very important to India's scheme of things.

What about India's bowling?

We've some really good world-class bowlers. Irfan Pathan has started doing well. Munaf Patel is very good; he is in form too. Zaheer Khan is there, bowling at his best. S Sreesanth has shown a lot of promise. Ajit Agarkar, who can both bowl and bat, is also there to lend support to other bowlers. Then you have two experienced spinners in leggie Anil Kumble and offie Harbhajan Singh. So it is a pretty balanced side packed with many key players.

What is India's strength? Batting?

No, I would say bowling is our strength. Batting has to be good. But we have not had a good beginning in recent times. So, a good start is a bit of concern. But we have a very balanced and varied bowling attack.

Is it a correct move to make Sachin Tendulkar the vice-captain at this stage of his career?

You do not have a choice; there is nobody else. Do you have any choice? Yuvraj Singh was not fit when the team was selected, when the captain and vice-captain were selected; Sehwag was out of form. So who else do you think you could have been named as vice-captain?

Don't you think minnows like Bermuda, Canada, Holland, Ireland, Kenya and Scotland rob an event like the World Cup of some of its glitter because most of the big teams prove just too good for them?

So what? These teams need encouragement and exposure. I personally feel they have to get exposure at the international level. So they have to play the big teams some time or the other. I do not think there is anything wrong in these minnows playing in the World Cup. If they keep playing against themselves, they will probably go nowhere. They will get neither exposure nor improve the quality and standard of their play. So the best thing is to give them as many opportunities as we can to rub shoulders with established international sides.

Who do you think will make the semi-finals?

Difficult question to answer, but India is definitely going to be one of the semi-finalists. The next could be Australia. Then New Zealand, followed by England.


quoted from :'Rahul Dravid's boys have in them plenty to win this World Cup', The Rediff Cricket Interview, March 12, 2007

Aunshuman Dattaji Gaekwad was a member of the Indian team at the first two World Cups in England, in 1975 and '79. He went on to coach the team at the seventh edition in 1999.

The former opening batsman discussed India's chances at the upcoming World Cup in the West Indies with Haresh Pandya, at the Maharaja Fatesingh Museum, in Baroda.
KINGSTON, Jamaica: Hosts West Indies head into the opening match of the ninth Cricket World Cup against Pakistan here Tuesday with recent history against them.

Pakistan has won eight of the last 10 one-day internationals against the West Indies, including a 3-1 series win in Pakistan last December and a meaningful 3-0 sweep in the Caribbean two years ago.

Sabina Park, recently refurbished and set to host a sell-out crowd of 20,000 in the Group D encounter, has also lost its status as a West Indian fortress.

After winning 11 of its first 12 one-dayers at the venue, the West Indies have been defeated in five of their last six here. Last season, the hosts needed a brilliant last over from Dwayne Bravo to sneak past India by one run.

Pakistan have successfully fended off the distractions of the loss of their two most potent bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, and key all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, all through injury.


Opening Ceremony


Over 2,000 singers, dancers and performers, including several of the Caribbean's top reggae and dancehall performers, participated in the opening at the new stadium close to Montego Bay on the northern coast of Jamaica.

Surprisingly only just over half of the Trelawny stadium was opened to spectators with one of the stands, behind the stage, left empty but those inside enjoyed a celebration of Caribbean culture.

Against a red, gold and green backdrop, reggae singers Jimmy Cliff and Gregory Isaacs, as well as contemporary performers Sean Paul and Shaggy, entertained the crowd of around 10,000 and the squads of the competing nations.

Chris Dehring, CEO of the event, said fans at the World Cup would see "the world's best cricketers competing against the backdrop of the most blessed place on earth".

: Parliamentarians play cricket


Sunday, March 11, 2007 (New Delhi):

Cricket fever got Parliamentarians as well when they took on players from the Steel Authority of India.

For once, our politicians had a chance to display their sporting sides.

It was meant to be a stress busting exercise and with World Cup mania at its peak a cricket match was organised between parliamentarians and the SAI.

It would never have been a close contest anyway especially with most MPs choosing to stay away.

And those who did turn up preferred to comment rather than pad-up.

"I don't know if it is a six or a four. The umpire has to decide," said Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Steel Minister.

The men in khadi lost the match by three wickets.

Turning up seemed a major problem for the MPs even at the athletics meet organised at the JNU stadium. The contest here was meant to be between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, but less than a dozen MPs showed up.

"It would have been nice if Sachin and Milind, the younger guys, had showed up," said Congress MP Sandeep Dixit.

Organisers finally had little choice but to turn it into a contest between parliamentarians and journalists. And many colleagues suddenly found themselves pitch forked into a slightly different tug-of-war.

Non-sport channels swing Cup deals

Ashish Sinha & Aminah Sheikh in New Delhi

March 12, 2007 10:07 IST

Cricket programming is raking in big moolah for TV channels, across different genres. The channels expect to roll out over 2,000 hours of cricket-related shows during the 45-day World Cup, garnering Rs 150-160 crore (Rs 1.5-1.6 billion) in advertising revenues.

This will be about 20 per cent of the advertising revenue that Set Max (Sony TV) will garner (over Rs 800 odd crore) from the tournament, which starts March 13. Set Max is the official broadcaster of the ICC World Cup.

On news channels, advertisers are paying 15-20 per cent premium for adspots that are getting sold between Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000 per 10 seconds. Even anchor sponsors on news channels are paying 10-15 per cent higher price for cricket-related shows, advertising industry sources said.

Giving the rationale for higher ad spots on news channels, Harish Doraiswamy, CEO, Zee News says: "Cricket shows on news channels attract women and children alike. This gives advertisers the reach and viewership, that's why they pay us the premium."

News channels are also upbeat on attracting large morning viewership as the World Cup matches in the Caribbean will go on till late in the night.

"We will be a preferred destination for quick updates in the morning so we will get large viewership and, therefore, advertising," Q W Naqvi, news director, TV Today Network, said.

The World Cup has also made ex-cricketers a rare resource, with news channels each forking out between Rs 20 lakh and over Rs 1 crore to hire them as experts.

While Kapil Dev, Syed Kirmani, Madan Lal and Arun Lal, will be on Aaj Tak, Maninder Singh, Zaheer Abbas and Vinod Kambli will be debating cricket on Zee News. Ajay Jadeja and Navjot Siddhu will be on NDTV, while Krish Srikkanth and Yashpal Sharma will be in West Indies analysing cricket for CNN-IBN.

Star News, in a bid to woo female audiences, will launch Crazy Kiya Re, an interactive show featuring leading television actresses and models who will search for the 'World's Sexiest Cricket Team' and 'World's Sexiest Cricketer'.

To celebrate the spirit of cricket, the TV18 Network, with its four news channels CNN-IBN, IBN 7, CNBC-TV 18 and CNBC-Awaaz has planned 'Cheer for India' initiative along with regular analysis driven shows.

NDTV India will telecast six shows Pitched Report, Googly, Khel India to name a few. Ajay Jadeja will be the guest on 'Pitched Report' and Googly. And 'India kare sawal' will be with Rahul Dravid.

Even music channels such as MTV and Channel V have geared up for the Cup. MTV is showing 'Aila Tendulkar', a 5-7 minutes show featuring cricket based gags and sketches. "It not for the World Cup alone. it is more because it is cricket season," said Sandeep Dahiya, director communications & consumer products, MTV Networks.



World Cup casts its spell in India
Web posted at: 3/10/2007 0:33:2
Source ::: REUTERS
NEW DELHI • Vikram Ray tucks into a chocolate pastry dripping with ice cream and says he is all set to scream himself hoarse cheering for India, where millions are caught up in ‘cricket fever’ days before the World Cup.

The problem is he is spoilt for choice of venues as hotels, bars, shopping malls, movie halls and public parks across the cricket-crazy nation become viewing galleries for fans to watch the tournament that begins in the West Indies next week.

India, along with 15 other countries, will play for the game’s most coveted prize over the next six weeks in the Caribbean and interest is soaring at home.

“I want to shout and shout along with others, and feel the patriotism,” said Ray, a 20-year-old college student with brown streaked hair, speaking at a trendy coffee shop in New Delhi.

Near his table, a large white board put up by the coffee shop is filled with messages of support for the Indian team, preparing for the six-week tournament that starts on March 13 across nine Caribbean nations.

One message reads: “We will win the war in the Windies.”

India play Bangladesh on March 17 and TV networks are stirring up support with “Cheer-for-India” campaigns.

Weavers are making saris with top batsman Saurav Ganguly’s image in his home state of West Bengal, while in New Delhi, girls in short skirts and pompoms attract bemused stares from men as they do a jig, sponsored by corporates and media houses.

In the coastal state of Orissa, a young musician has shot a music video in which he attempts to play cricket underwater. Elsewhere, special prayers in temples are being said.

India’s multitude of TV channels, fighting for a slice of the viewership pie in a nation of 1.1bn people, are tracking the build-up in minute detail.

“Good luck India, we need the World Cup,” Bollywood action icon Akshay Kumar tells a TV news channel, which claims to be the “official network of the Indian cricket fan.”

A rival channel asks viewers to send text messages as part of a contest to find the “craziest” cricket fan in India where national players are often more popular than Bollywood stars.

“They have to feed their 24-hour channels and everyone wants to jump onto the bandwagon,” said Poonam Saxena, a media critic. “If someone wants to get away from cricket, he or she will have to leave the country.”

Hotels are also installing flat-screen TVs on bar tables for customers to watch matches that will start in the evening and end early morning local time.

For the peckish, “googly pasta” and “century noodles” are offered at a restaurant in the western city of Ahmedabad.

But amid all the hype, experts are warning against inflated expectations that could end in disappointment.

They point out that during the previous World Cup in South Africa in 2003, angry fans damaged batsman Rahul Dravid’s car and attacked team-mate Mohammad Kaif’s house after India’s loss to Australia in a preliminary match.

“It is totally unfair on the 11 young boys that people burden their lives’ expectations on them,” Ramachandra Guha, a cricket historian and writer, said.

“We are raising expectations too high. India has a mediocre team that is unlikely to win.”

What are our chances of winning the 2007 World Cup?

Sachin Tendulkar: We have a very good chance of winning. It's not always about the composition of the team. It is more important to get into a rhythm and then sustain it. We struggled at the start of the 2003 tournament because the momentum was not with us. But once we gained it, we beat every side except Australia.

If we win the World Cup, will it be the greatest day of your cricket career?

Sachin Tendulkar: Undoubtedly. It can't get bigger than that. Lifting the World Cup is every cricketer's dream.

(An exclusive feature for Sify from PMG)


Cricket gambling set for Cup boom in Pakistan
Web posted at: 3/11/2007 8:14:25
Source ::: REUTERS
LAHORE, Pakistan • While the best teams in the world battle for the cricket World Cup beginning on Tuesday, Pakistani police and bookies will be playing a game of cat and mouse that the bookies look sure to win.

All forms of gambling are illegal in cricket-mad, mostly Muslim Pakistan but fans are expected to wager huge amounts during the six-week World Cup that starts on March 13.

And the bookies are relishing the prospects.

“Everyone’s a gambler in Lahore,” said one bookie in the eastern Pakistani city.

A smartly dressed man in his early 30s, the bookie runs his operation from a small room with a telephone in a bustling city-centre side street.

Lahore police have mounted a crackdown on gambling in recent weeks, raiding 75 gambling dens and arresting 431 people, mostly for playing cards, said city police chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal.

But Iqbal said far more money is bet on cricket than on the card games his men have been breaking up.

“We have to be very watchful during the World Cup. The ongoing campaign will effect their morale and their business.”

The Lahore bookie, who declined to be identified, said he had been laying low during the crackdown but he wasn’t worried about his World Cup business.

“The crackdown will be finished by the time the World Cup starts,” he said confidently.

The bookie said he regarded himself as a medium-sized operator among the city’s numerous bookmakers. He said he usually made the equivalent of about $1,000 during a regular international cricket match.

During the World Cup, he said expected to get closer to $10,000 a match.

“It’s a big event and the matches aren’t fixed,” he said.

One man associated with a betting operation said big-time gamblers could put Rs10m ($165,000) on a single match. Many millions of dollars would be changing hands over the World Cup, he said.

The Lahore bookie also said he wasn’t worried about the police because he paid them off — nearly $700 a month.

“I pay money, why should I be arrested?” he asked. “If the police plan a raid someone in the station will tell me.”

Iqbal acknowledged some police might be tempted by bribes.

“Maybe this is true but I’ve never received any money,” he said. “If someone is found indulging in this they’ll be taken to task.”

In the teeming southern city of Karachi, bookies said they had begun taking World Cup bets.

“We’re expecting a boom because the timing of the matches is such it will allow us to do our business smoothly,” said a Karachi bookie who also declined to be identified.

The World Cup is being held in the West Indies, with matches starting in the early evening, Pakistani time. Sixteen teams, including Pakistan, are competing.

“Australia is the favourite followed by South Africa,” said the Karachi bookie. “We take all types of bets. The most popular is fancy fixing where a client bets on any ball.”

All bets were made by word of mouth over the telephone, with no paper trail for the police to find, both bookies said.

“A client is identified by a special number and he just calls in and places his bet,” said the Karachi bookie.

Karachi police chief Azhar Ali Farooqi seemed resigned to a wave of World Cup betting.

“We carry out raids and discourage these people when we get reliable information. Cricket is such a big passion it’s natural for people who gamble to also bet on it,” he said.

“We’ve made no advance raids yet but we’re keeping watch.”

Cricket fan and gambler Danish Karim can’t wait. “The World Cup is the biggest cricket event for us because all the teams are involved. It is so much more fun,” he said.

He said gambling was particularly popular among brokers at the Karachi Stock Exchange.

“The World Cup will be a big event for them as always.”


World cup cricket 2007
India pledges US$26M to World Cup stadium

Stabroek News
January 20, 2004

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Guyana's moves to host part of the 2007 World Cup Cricket are a step closer with a commitment by the Indian government to contribute some US$26 million towards the building of a world-class stadium.

President Bharrat Jagdeo, just back from India, said that country's government has agreed to contribute US$6 million towards the financing of a multi-purpose stadium and also offered Guyana a soft loan amounting to about US$20 million.


This was President Jagdeo's second visit to India and during his first, in August 2003, he had requested assistance to build the stadium and the government of India had indicated its willingess to consider a proposal.


The 2007 World Cup Cricket is expected to be hosted by the Caribbean and if all preparations are made Guyana will be involved. The site identified for the stadium is Providence, East Bank Demerara.


A release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) yesterday said that the stringent deadlines to construct the facility were communicated to the Indian government by the President and they agreed to work assiduously.


The release stated that in a television interview, which was expected to be aired last evening, President Jagdeo said construction of the stadium would start later this year.


"I came back with the assurance from the Prime Minister and President of India that the cricket stadium will be built. That they would give us a grant of US$6 million and a soft loan to cover the rest of the stadium which would be as much as US$20 million," the release quoted the president as saying.


He said that Guyana will bid to host the 2007 games later this year and he has to attach his signature to the bid document, guaranteeing that Guyana will be ready by the stipulated time line to host the cricket competition.


"That would have certain implications for Guyana. It would expose the country. If we are not ready, the country could have a liability exceeding US$50 million and I am required to put my signature to the guarantees. It means that I have to me sure, as President of this country, that we are ready and the key thing to being ready is to have the stadium in place. There are other things that we have to do but that can be done through national resources."


The GINA release said that government has not ruled out the option of private financing as opportunities still remain for private investment, and there would be many other arrangements to be made in addition to the new stadium.


According to the release the new stadium, would cater for cricket, football, athletics and concerts, among other activities. President Jagdeo said that the private investors could consider the options to build a complex and shopping mall nearby along with a housing scheme for accommodation.


He repeatedly noted that hosting the world cup is truly a national effort and requires several facilities, including accommodation, the stadium, developing taxi services, a liaison component and ensuring that Guyana's tourism potential is fully showcased.


He noted that government is hoping with all interested groups to make the stadium a reality and the hosting of the world cup in Guyana a possibility.


A broad-based World Cup Cricket Committee (WCCC) led by Norman McLean -now disbanded had viewed the world cup project as one with the potential to give the economy a much-needed infusion as not only would it involve the construction of a 20,000-capacity stadium, but would see investments in housing, transportation and the tourism and hospitality sectors.


When Stabroek News contacted McLean last evening he said he knew nothing about the new development but those involved will have to see how the new stadium can be constructed with the US$26 million.


In an earlier interview with this newspaper McLean had said he felt it was a "doable" project as the stadium will take 32 months to construct and time was on Guyana's side.