Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

Indian Cricketers Cleared Of Match-Fixing Charges In Blow To Indian Premier League

Three high-profile cricketers at the center of the "biggest corruption scandal to hit the lucrative Indian Premier League have been cleared of match-fixing charges, further complicating attempts to clean up the tournament," according to Keohane & Crabtree of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The criminal case against the sportsmen "was seen by many analysts as an important means for the IPL to draw a line under a scandal that erupted during its 2013 season." Its collapse "increases the uncertainty surrounding the competition’s next season in 2016." A court in New Delhi on Saturday discharged 36 individuals involved in the scandal, including ex-Indian national cricketer S. Sreesanth and "two of his former teammates in the Rajasthan Royals franchise." The court "dismissed the evidence presented in the case by police and the prosecution as insufficient." Sreesanth and his two teammates "were arrested in a police operation known as Operation U-turn." The three were accused of "spot fixing" -- in which elements of a match are rigged in exchange for money -- "which police claimed was linked to criminal betting syndicates" (FT, 7/26). In Mumbai, Sana Shakil wrote however, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has said that "the board's action is independent of court verdict and it will not revoke ban on the trio despite." All accused present in the courtroom "appeared relieved after the court's order." Sreesanth "broke down and said he was happy to have finally got justice." The formal set of charges, running into 6,000 pages, "named Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan, among other accused, in the scandal related to the IPL-6 held in 2013" (TIMES OF INDIA, 7/25). The INDIAN EXPRESS' Kaunain Sheriff wrote "among the 42 individuals chargesheeted by police were fugitive underworld dons" Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel. The court observed that the “best case” could have been made under the Public Gambling Act, but that too was “not prima facie established” from the evidence placed on record by the Special Cell. The court observed that the allegedly incriminating conversation between Sreesanth and his friend Jiju Janardhanan "are innocuous and do not in any manner reveal the conspiracy of fixing the over." The court said, "The conversation between Janardhanan and Sreesanth does not show that Janardhanan had approached Sreesanth for fixing the over or that it was done as a part of activity of crime syndicate run by Dawood and Chhota Shakeel" (INDIAN EXPRESS, 7/26).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2015/07/27/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/IPL-cricketers.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2015/07/27/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/IPL-cricketers.aspx

CLOSE