IPL betting: Does BCCI have the guts to terminate CSK?

While fingers were immediately pointed on whether BCCI chief N Srinivasan should take the fall after the Supreme Court appointed Justice Mudgal panel found his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan guilty of betting in the Indian Premier League, it seemed the real issue was getting buried — that of whether the Chennai Super Kings should be terminated from the tournament. Lalit Modi has since aimed his guns at Srinivasan, saying that the man should be banned from having involvement in any sport, alleging that it was time to rid the country of this ‘malice’. However, Shishir Hattangadi, former Mumbai cricket captain — who was joined by senior editor at ESPN Cricinfo Sharda Ugra and lawyer Abhimanyu Bhandari on a discussion on CNN-IBN, said that people were missing the bigger picture. “The fact now is that CSK has to prove that Mudgal report has no basis and (BCCI ACSU officer) Ravi Savani’s report (where everyone was exonerated) was what they wanted to hear. Whether Srinivasan deserves to be at ICC or BCCI has no relevance. This is about CSK not being banned”, he said. [caption id=“attachment_1382849” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] ![PTI](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Srini-PTI.jpg) Can the BCCI save face this time? PTI[/caption] Apart from betting, the probe panel also said that Meiyappan had been passing information to bookies. According to clause 11.3 of the IPL franchise rules: if any official, team owner or anyone associated with the team tarnishes the image of the league, the franchise can be terminated immediately. While Srinivasan had earlier noted that Meiyappan was only an ’enthusiast’ — the panel’s report states that he was deeply involved in cricketing activities of the team. In fact, in an interview to The Hindu in 2011, Meiyappan is quoted as saying: “Before every game, Dhoni, Fleming and I exchange our elevens at 5.45 p.m. (for the night matches). Fleming and I spent countless hours in the lead-up to the auction. In the last three days, we conducted mock auctions, picked around 45 different combinations.” Lalit Modi, in an earlier interaction with CNN-IBN had raised the question of what Meiyappan was doing at with Srinivasan at an ICC meet in Dubai, if he was not involved or close to the BCCI President. Bhandari was quick to point out that there was no escaping the rules which the IPL created themselves and that CSK were also liable for Meiyappan’s actions:: “Throughout the history of this IPL spot-fixing scandal, we’ve never seen 11.3 being implemented — only talked about. CSK failed to restrict Meiyappan so they are equally liable — it’s clear via section 11.3. Now whenever there’s been an allegation, they’ve suspended players — now they should look at this and terminate CSK. If you can’t, then just do away with anti-corruption and all those rules.” But Ugra, who said that ’the BCCI is Srinivasan and Srinivasan is the BCCI’, doubts whether the cricketing body has the gumption to look at themselves and clean up from within by sacrificing CSK: “The BCCI don’t have gumption. We’re dull to the fact that they find a way around stuff like this. It really depends on the court because BCCI don’t have it in them to look at itself and call for a change. This is upon themselves — upon their president.” And according to Lalit Modi, this president has made sure no one talks — players or officials. “I can talk now because my hands are not tied. But otherwise? No, I couldn’t. Srinivasan has a man in every office, he even knows what you’re eating or drinking.” Ugra seemed to echo his views: “Srinivasan looks like he’s safe and sound. Who’s going to stand up to him? They’ll put up with this too.” For Hattangadi, the choices are simple: “What choice do the BCCI have? They’ve got to accept the report or contest it or change the law.” One cannot choose from those three options because this time round, it seems that the evidence is too overwhelming. BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla calmly said that he will wait for the Supreme Court’s judgement — but behind the scenes a strategy to save face will surely be in the works. As Ugra put it, “Srinivasan lied, MS Dhoni lied, India Cements lied and now all the evidence has come home to roost.”

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IPL betting: Does BCCI have the guts to terminate CSK?

According to clause 11.3 of the IPL franchise rules: if any official, team owner or anyone associated with the team tarnishes the image of the league, the franchise can be terminated immediately.

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