BCCI panel to probe Gurunath Meiyappan

Panel to probe match-fixing charges

Amid a rising clamour for the resignation of N Srinivasan, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the country’s cricket governing boady today decided to set up a commission to investigate match-fixing allegations.

The scope of the commission would include a probe into Srinivasan's son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan's involvement in spot fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Srinivasan said at the press conference. Two members from IPL's disciplinary committee will be part of the commission, while the third member will be an independent person. There is, however, little clarity on the appointment of the independent member.

Former cricketer Ravi Shastri, Arun Jaitley (board member), Rajeev Shukla (IPL commissioner), Ajay Shirke (BCCI treasury) and Sanjay Jagdale (BCCI secretary) are part of the IPL disciplinary committee.

According to the BCCI president, the commission would act swiftly to come out with a report on the fixing allegations, though no timeline has been fixed.

Asked about demands for his own resignation, Srinivasan remained defiant: "I have said this many times. I have not done anything wrong and I cannot be pushed to resign. We will try to justify the people's trust into the tournament and Indian cricket."

He said no board member of BCCI had asked him to resign and it was the media that had been demanding he quit. An official present at former BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya's dinner party last night told Business Standard it was an informal gathering. "Nobody discussed the controversy even once. Not a stroke of concern was visible on Srinivasan's face and the atmosphere was very normal," said the official, who did not want to be named.

As Srinivasan was holding the press conference, other board members made a quiet exit. Srinivasan said his son-in-law was not in the management of Chennai Super Kings and it was controlled by India Cements.

Meanwhile, BCCI has decided to suspend Meiyappan from cricket, while a four-member team from the Mumbai police conducted a raid at his house in Chennai.

BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement the Board had taken note of Meiyappan’s detention by the Mumbai police. As an accredited team official, Meiyappan is subject to the provisions of the IPL Operational Rules and the BCCI Anti-Corruption Code for Participants.

“Pending further investigations and any subsequent hearing by the BCCI Disciplinary Committee or the IPL Code of Behaviour Committee, Meiyappan has been suspended by BCCI from any involvement in the sport of cricket and in particular from any involvement with the CSK team,” Jagdale said.