Lalit Modi, the founder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) who has lived outside India for over a decade, has broken his silence on the real reason behind his permanent exit from cricket administration — pointing directly at alleged life-threatening intimidation from underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his crime syndicate, in an interview with ANI.
Speaking from London, Modi pushed back firmly on the characterisation that he is a fugitive on the run. "I'm not running at all," he said, insisting his absence from India is a matter of choice shaped by genuine safety concerns.
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"If I Was Running..."
Modi rejected the notion that he has been on the run since leaving the country in 2010. Arguing that someone genuinely evading probe agencies could not travel openly across the world, he said the narrative surrounding him had been shaped more by headlines than court findings.
"I'm not running at all. I'm going all over the world. If I was running, you would be picking me up somewhere or the other. The Indian government has a long arm... You can't take on the government of India. And I don't intend to. It's not the government. It's the media," he said.
Lalit Modi also took aim at what he described as a culture of media trials, blaming the absence of strong defamation laws for repeated allegations against him."You have no libel in your country, in our country. You can say what you want and I sell news," he said.
The $4-Billion Satta Bazaar
Modi detailed how his refusal to cooperate with the underground betting empire controlled by D-Company placed him directly in the crosshairs of the syndicate.
"Dawood Ibrahim is a known bookmaker. He controlled the cricket book. In those days, it used to be $2 billion of underground betting. Today, it's $4 billion of underground betting a game. It's huge. It's unimaginably huge. Every ball, there's an odd chance. It's the Satta Bazaar. Nobody fixes games anymore. You fix overs. You fix the ball," he said.
Modi said the methods had become highly sophisticated, with on-field signals used to communicate fixes.
"Somebody takes out a handkerchief, somebody rubs something the other way, and it's a sign. We watch for these signs. We look for these signs," he said, adding that during the first three years of the IPL under his watch, there was no fixing.
Why He Finally Retired
Modi revealed that the alleged life-threatening intimidation from Dawood was one of the single biggest reasons behind his retirement from cricket administration.
Modi said it was his personal guarantee to step away from cricket entirely that ultimately defused the standoff, after syndicate operative Chhota Shakeel gave a live interview confirming the mafia had resolved its issues with him.
"I just said I will retire from cricket. I gave my word I would retire. It's one of the biggest reasons. Why would I subject myself to media pressure, government pressure, and then life-threatening pressure?" he said.
On Rahul Gandhi And Political Targeting
On questions about criticism from opposition leaders, Modi claimed he had become a convenient political talking point. "What I'm afraid about is that you have some people that I have upset and they are political. Whether they sit in the opposition or they sit anywhere else, they have an axe against me," he said.
"And they also have a lot of clout... If you look at the parliament speeches of Rahul Gandhi, he always attacks me every time there is an election or some issue. Why am I being attacked by the Congress government?..." he added.
Will He Return To India?
Asked whether he intends to return and clear his name in court, Modi suggested that chapter of his life is firmly behind him. "There was a time when I did want to come back. And I had all the reasons to come back. Come back and do what?... I don't need to prove to anybody," he said.
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The Investigations And Legal Cloud
Despite Modi's claims, India continues to pursue investigations linked to his tenure as IPL chief. The Enforcement Directorate is probing allegations of financial irregularities, money laundering and unauthorised fund transfers, while the Ministry of External Affairs is pursuing extradition-related processes under Indian and international legal frameworks.
Modi, however, questioned the legal basis for any potential action after more than a decade of proceedings. "Arrest you want to do, you have to take me to court. Seventeen years you haven't taken me to court. How can you arrest me today? If there was something there, it would be out," he said.
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