Dubai, July 7: Indian media mogul Sanjog Gupta was on Monday named the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Jay Shah-led International Cricket Council (ICC), replacing Australian Geoff Allardice, who stepped down before the Champions Trophy earlier this year citing personal reasons.
Gupta, who was serving as the CEO (Sports & Live Experiences) at JioStar, will be taking charge of his new role with immediate effect. He will be the seventh CEO of the ICC, which said it received more than 2,500 applications from 25 countries from which 12 candidates were shortlisted.
“Candidates ranged from leaders associated with sport’s governing bodies to senior corporate executives from across sectors,” the ICC said.
The names were forwarded to the Nominations Committee comprising ICC deputy chairman Imran Khwaja, ECB chairman Richard Thompson, SLC president Shammi Silva and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia.
They recommended Gupta for the role which was approved by ICC chairman Jay Shah.
“Sanjog Gupta has been a driving force behind the transformation of sports broadcasting in India and globally,” the ICC said.
The governing body also noted Gupta’s role in establishing and expanding other leagues such as the Pro Kabaddi League and the Indian Super League (football) while promoting global events like Premier League and Wimbledon.
“Sanjog has played a pivotal role in shaping the continued growth of marquee Cricket properties such as ICC events & IPL, establishing domestic sports leagues like PKL and ISL, furthering the popularity of global sporting events such as Premier League and Wimbledon and scaling the business across consumer and commercial objectives,” it said.
Shah said Gupta’s experience in sports strategy and commercialisation will be vital for the ICC.
“Sanjog brings extensive experience in sports strategy and commercialisation, which will be invaluable for the ICC,” he said.
“His deep understanding of the global sports as well as M&E landscape combined with his continued curiosity about the cricket fan’s perspective and passion for technology will prove essential in our ambition to grow the game in the coming years.”
Gupta succeeds Allardice who had quit in January this year after a four-year tenure.
It was widely speculated that the 57-year-old Allardice’s decision to leave was triggered, in major part, by the ICC Board’s unhappiness with his failure to present a “clear picture” of Pakistan’s lack of preparedness to host the Champions Trophy.
Gupta said he is looking forward to contributing to the next phase of cricket’s .
He began his career as journalist and joined Star India (now JioStar) in 2010. Over the years, he held multiple leadership roles in content, programming and strategy before becoming Head of Sports at Disney and Star India in 2020.
Gupta was appointed CEO of JioStar Sports in November 2024 following the merger of Viacom18 and Disney Star.
The post of ICC’s CEO has been previously held by David Richards, Malcolm Speed and Allardice from Australia, David Richardson and Haroon Lorgat from South Africa and Indian-born Manu Sawhney. (PTI)
