Pandora Papers: Why is Sachin Tendulkar's name mentioned in report that reveals financial secrets?

'Pandora Papers' have revealed an outrageous secret wealth and financial dealings of world leaders, politicians and billionaires in a report claimed to be the "biggest journalism partnership" in history, cumulated by millions of leaked documents. 

The report, which was published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on October 3, disclosed unknown offshore financial dealings of world leaders. The report mentions that it has data of more than 330 politicians and public officials in 91 countries and territories, and a global lineup of fugitives, con artists and murderers.

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From former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the secret documents have exposed details of their financial activities in an "offshore system". 

However, one name immediately grabbed attention of Indian readers, which was of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. After the mention of all "hidden treasures" of some prominent world leaders, the report stated people linked by the "secret documents to offshore assets".

A part of the report read: "People linked by the secret documents to offshore assets include India’s cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar, pop music diva Shakira, supermodel Claudia Schiffer and an Italian mobster known as "Lell the Fat One"."

Providing further details on the same, The Indian Express wrote, "Sports icon Sachin Tendulkar, for instance, asked for the liquidation of his entity in the British Virgin Islands just three months after the Panama Papers expose."

However, according to DW News, Tendulkar's attorney claimed the cricketer's investment is lawful and has been reported to tax authorities.

Sachin is one of the biggest names in the history of Indian cricket, he has played a total of 200 Tests and 463 one-day internationals for India and made efforts to put the cricket-crazy South-Asian nation on the top. Sachin made his Test debut when he was only 16 and became the first player to score 100 international centuries. In 2013, Tendulkar retired from Test cricket after the 200th Test at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. 

How big is Pandora Papers leak?

The report has revealed that there are 11.9 million documents in 2.94 terabytes of data in the data collection. Details on ownership of 29,000 offshore businesses and trusts were obtained from 14 firms in offshore tax-havens. 

Although some documents dating back to the 1970s, the majority of the businesses, trusts, and foundations were formed between 1996 and 2010.

The files were shared by the ICIJ with over 600 journalists from 130 news organisations, making it the largest journalist cooperation in history.

(Credit: WION)