Pressure mounts as BCCI chief refuses to quit

Dubai: With fresh allegations of spot-fixing emerging every hour, the reputation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) crashed to a new low on Saturday. Pressure on BCCI President N. Srinivasan to resign from his post mounted throughout the day following the arrest of his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, the owner of franchise Chennai Super Kings, who is alleged to have placed huge bets and had links with bookies.

Meiyappan, after being presented to court on Saturday, has been remanded to police custody till May 29 (Wednesday).

Putting up a brave face, Srinivasan, who landed in Mumbai en route to Kolkata where he will attend the IPL final on Sunday, announced that he would not resign: “I have done nothing wrong. I will not resign. And I cannot be bulldozed. The rules of the BCCI will be followed strictly and law will take its own course.”

Speaking to Gulf News, S.K. Nair, the former secretary of the BCCI who belonged to the Jagmohan Dalmiya faction that had to give way for the present ruling group led by Srinivasan, said: “Cricket is in shambles. The prestige of BCCI should now be restored at all costs. It is a time of crisis and this is the time when everyone should join hands to rescue the game in India.”

Dalmiya, former president of the BCCI as well the International Cricket Council (ICC), will host a dinner for BCCI officials in Kolkata on Saturday. The future of Srinivasan is expected to be decided by the BCCI officials who will be attending the dinner.

Tenure ends

According to the BCCI constitution, only a special general body meeting can move a resolution against its president and a three-fourth majority is required. Moreover, a resolution can be passed only if the president is “directly” involved in any corruption. Srinivasan’s term ends in September but it is extendable by another year if re-elected.

Among those who have called for Srinivasan’s resignation on moral grounds is Sharad Pawar, the former president of the BCCI and ICC. Srinivasan and former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief were part of the Pawar group that ousted Dalmiya.

Kamal Nath, the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, has also demanded Srinivasan’s resignation.

Following the scandal, the Indian government is likely to introduce a new law to deal with such acts of dishonesty in all sports. Kapil Sibal, the law minister, told a press conference that the “dishonest practices like match-fixing and spot-fixing need to be dealt with in a holistic manner. The first draft of the new law will be ready in three to four days.”

Meanwhile, an international bookie, Yahya Mohammad, who was arrested in Hyderabad is understood to have disclosed names of many other Indian and international players who were allegedly involved in spot fixing. It is also being investigated whether Gurunath, who used to be part of the Chennai Super Kings team, had leaked team strategies to bookies.