The Indian Premier League "has been thrown into turmoil after a committee appointed by the Supreme Court suspended two of the eight teams after officials were found guilty of illegally betting on matches," according to Atish Patel of the LONDON TIMES. Chennai Super Kings, led by Indian one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Rajasthan Royals, captained by Australian Test vice-captain Steve Smith, "had been hoping to escape with heavy fines." However, a tribunal led by former Chief Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha confirmed the two franchises "would be banned from the next two editions" of the IPL to protect "the integrity of the game." Lodha said that by "regularly placing bets" on matches, former Chennai official Gurunath Meiyappan "caused huge injury to the reputation and the image of the game" and "acted in gross violation of the [IPL's] anti-corruption code." Meyiappan, the son-in-law of Int'l Cricket Council Chair N. Srinivasan, had lost more than $600,000 in bets. Lodha added that Kundra, the former co-owner of Rajasthan and British husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, had brought "disrepute" to the sport and, as a foreign national, "failed to ensure that his acts and actions were not in conflict of the laws" of India. Kundra and Meiyappan "were also banned for life from all cricket-related activities" (LONDON TIMES, 7/14).
'UNPRECEDENTED VERDICT': In London, James Crabtree reported the decision "casts doubt over the money-spinning event's 2016 season, cutting its normal complement of eight teams to six," reducing the value of broadcasting rights and "hitting corporate sponsors of the two banned teams." The allegations created "a storm of publicity at the time and led to calls for a shake-up of the game's governing body in the country," the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which owns the TV-friendly IPL. Mumbai-based cricket writer and commentator Ayaz Memon said, "This is an unprecedented verdict for Indian cricket. The IPL is probably the biggest global sporting property to emerge over the past half a century, but it has always had this nasty underbelly of corruption. Now the law seems to have caught up with it." The "unexpectedly tough verdict won blanket coverage on Indian television news, underlining how cricket is followed with an almost religious fervour" in the country (FINANCIAL TIMES, 7/14). The HINDUSTAN TIMES reported Srinivasan, who headed the BCCI when the scandal hit the sixth edition of the IPL in '13, said that he will not "step down as ICC chief despite the verdict." Srinivasan: "I am not answerable to anyone. I am not involved in all of these." The BCCI will "now have to decide whether it can afford to run the next IPL tournament with six teams, which many feel will be financially unviable." With the teams "only suspended, the board will also have to decide whether it can bring in fresh teams." Both teams as well as Meiyappan and Kundra "have the option to appeal the verdict in the Supreme Court" (HINDUSTAN TIMES, 7/14).
INCOMPLETE DECISION: The BBC reported Wisden India Almanack Editor Suresh Menon wrote, "This is a good, but incomplete decision by the Supreme Court-appointed panel. Considering
that officials from both teams have been found guilty of corruption,
the two teams should have been banned for life. That would have sent out a really strong signal to clean up Indian cricket" (BBC, 7/14).
DALMIYA WELCOMES DECISION: The HINDUSTAN TIMES reported in a separate piece BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya welcomed the panel's order, "saying the board was committed to ensuring transparency, accountability and cleansing the sport in order to restore the faith of millions of cricket-loving people." He was quoted by a BCCI media release as saying, "BCCI is committed to honour and respect judicial decisions and it would give its observations after the entire report is read and a collective decision is taken." TV reports said that both teams as well as Meiyappan and Kundra were "likely to appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court" (HINDUSTAN TIMES, 7/14). The AFP reported when asked about the financial losses of players, Lodha said, "We did not consider financial losses to players and teams. That is not significant. The integrity of the game is what matters" (AFP, 7/14).
THE ROAD AHEAD: The PTI reported IPL Governing Council members will "soon be meeting to discuss the implications and the road ahead after the verdict by the Lodha committee." A senior BCCI functionary and IPL GC member said, "We were having some informal discussions once the verdict was announced. An emergent meeting is on the cards where the members will be apprised of the situation and the road ahead will be only chalked out after our legal team goes through entire contents of the copy of the verdict." However, the "three primary points that have emerged from the discussions between the senior functionaries are that of whether new companies will be allowed to bid for two vacant slots," whether all players or "only the CSK and RR players will be going into auctions" and also the case of the "de-merger of the CSK from its parent company India Cements Limited" (PTI, 7/14). The PTI reported in a separate piece Dalmiya said that the BCCI is "committed to honour and respect judicial decisions" but will go through
the contents of the panel's report "before reacting to it." Dalmiya, however, asserted that the BCCI is "committed to ensuring transparency, accountability and cleansing the sport in order to restore the faith and confidence of millions of cricket-loving people" in the game of cricket in general and IPL in particular (PTI, 7/14). The PTI reported in a separate piece Chennai Super Kings owner India Cements Ltd. is "planning to move the Supreme Court against the order of the court appointed committee suspending the team" from the IPL for two years. Top sources in the company "decided they would approach the apex court seeking relief" (PTI, 7/14).
SRINIVASAN 'UNTENABLE': In New Delhi, Pradeep Magazine commented "finally justice!" The "arrogant, self-serving Indian cricket officials have been delivered a body-blow" by the Lodha committee's verdict, which has suspended "the most powerful IPL team, the Chennai Super Kings," for two years along with the Rajasthan Royals from playing the tournament. It is a judgment that the BCCI officials "may not have seen coming, given how thick-skinned they are when it comes to looking within." So far they have been "a law unto themselves, neither caring for public interest nor the game of cricket." The custodians of the game "are busier in furthering their own personal interests, than caring for the image of the sport and its well-being." The verdict should leave Srinivasan's position as ICC chairman "untenable." Despite all the charges against him and his son-in-law, the BCCI "still thought it prudent to retain him as India's representative in the ICC." This is "the best reflection of the incestuous manner in which the Board functions." This is why one "should not believe that the purge in Indian cricket from all its unsavoury elements has taken place with today's verdict." If one "may say so, this is just the beginning" (HINDUSTAN TIMES, 7/14).
IS IT ENOUGH?: In New Delhi, Dhruv Munjal observed for many, "this is hopefully the first phase of a cleanup act that the cricket world has been arduously waiting for." The "hassles of rejigging the whole franchise system aside, the financial implications of this verdict will dent the fortunes of the BCCI massively." The judgement will "also have a major bearing" on the standing of Srinivasan. Although "not implicated directly," Chennai Super Kings is owned by Srinivasan. Moreover, "this gives the Jagmohan Dalmiya camp a glorious opportunity to slowly push Srinivasan into irrelevance" (Indian BUSINESS STANDARD, 7/14).
