BCCI website goes down for hours after domain remains unrenewed

The official website of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), https://www.bcci.tv, was down for at least 24 hours on Sunday after the domain was unrenewed with time.

The website registrars register.com and namejet.com had put the domain name up for a public bidding, which received seven bids with the highest bid at USD 270. The website was purchased by IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi from registrar.com in 2008.

Officials were unable to use their email for over 24 hours. It was on Sunday night that the website resumed working and officials were able to access their email.

According to an official, the domain is in the name of Modi, who has fallen out with the BCCI. The BCCI officials, on realising the problem, tried as early as they could to get the website running again.

A BCCI official said, “The BCCI spoke to representatives of the entity through which the domain name is registered when the site and emails were down. They told us that there was some issue and the domain registrars couldn’t accept credit card payment. They told us the matter would be resolved soon.”

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The official clarified that the Bombay High Court had given an undertaking that the registrants will not do anything to stop the usage by BCCI and continue to handle the payment part later.

The website is an important source for live scores of the game across age categories, besides putting up important documents in connection with the functioning of the board. While the website was down on Sunday, ODI between India and South Africa was ongoing. 

BCCI and Lalit Modi parted ways in 2010 when the former Rajasthan Cricket Association Chief was suspended by the board on 22 charges. Subsequently, in 2013, Modi was banned for life, and in recent view, he quit the cricket administration completely.