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Storm und drang II

What a week it has been if you like mixing your sport with watching corporate train wrecks.

The final days of the third Indian Premier League are being thoroughly overshadowed by a firestorm of controversy relating to, among other things, equity in new IPL franchises and the tax arrangements of the existing ones. One government minister has resigned and the future of IPL Commissioner Lalit Kumar Modi is in doubt, though he seems likely to bring more people down with him as he departs. In question is the whole future of the IPL as its astronomical financial dealings are unravelled.

Also unravelled this week was the secret of the Melbourne Storm's success in the National Rugby League over the past five years. They had been caught overspending on their player salary cap and have been stripped of their premiership titles in 2007 and 2009, among other stiff penalties.