New Delhi: Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia being sentenced for drugs possession while on a skiing holiday to Japan could mean trouble for the Indian Premier League team, sources say.
As per the Operational Rules of the cash-rich league, no team official involved with the league can act in a manner which brings disrepute to the team, the league, the BCCI or the game on or off the field. If guilty, the persons action can even lead to suspension of the team.
While the matter is required to be first sent to the commission for investigation, the commission will then forward its finding to the ombudsman.
Citing the manner in which Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had to bear the brunt for the acts of the team principal, a senior BCCI functionary said that KXIP could be in deep trouble.
“The KXIP are unfortunately looking at suspension as a best case scenario and termination as a worst case scenario due to the conviction of an owner in a criminal case of drug possession.
“No less than the Lodha panel had suspended the CSK for two years because their team official was accused of betting. In this case we have an owner convicted of drug possession by a criminal court. “If he was a state cricket official, he would have stood disqualified from holding office automatically.
“This also exposes the discriminatory provisions of the new BCCI constitution which is draconian for a state association but doesn’t put any restriction on a franchise official even though IPL performances clearly matter more for selection to the Indian team than Ranji performances,” the functionary said.
As per the IPL Operational Rules, clause 14 of section 2 of the IPL Operational Rules state that each person subject to the operational rules shall not, whether during a match or otherwise, act or omit to act in any way which would or might reasonably be anticipated to have an adverse effect on the image and/or reputation of any Team, any Franchisee, any Player, any Team Official, the BCCI, the League and/or the Game or which would otherwise bring any of the foregoing into disrepute.
It further state that the ombudsman and the commission may suspend a team or franchisee from the league if any person representing the team/franchise breaches clause 14 of section 2.
While adjudicating in the IPL betting matter against CSK and Rajasthan Royals, the Lodha panel had taken into consideration section 4, rule 1.1 of the Operational Rules, which puts strict obligations on each franchisee that its team officials complies with the regulations.
This was to ensure that cricket should be played not only within the laws, but also within the spirit of game and nothing was done by its representatives (team officials), players and etc on the field or off the field which is contrary to the spirit of the game or which adversely affects the reputation of the game.
