The BCCI stuck to the rule book in not imposing a life ban yet on Indian cricket’s tainted trio — S. Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila — for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing in the IPL.
Instead, the BCCI decided at its working committee meeting here on Sunday to launch an internal enquiry first and then act on its findings.
The Rajasthan Royals, the employer of the trio, will however, file a police complaint in Jaipur.
It is learnt that had the BCCI acted in haste and against its own constitution in banning the cricketers, the decision may have been open to challenge in court.
To avoid possible embarrassment, an enquiry commission under BCCI’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit head Ravi Sawani was formed at the working committee meeting.
Parrying questions on the possibility of a life ban wiping out all records held by the players, , BCCI president N. Srinivasan said Sawani’s report will decide the fate of the tainted trio.
“The report, which we seek at the earliest possible time, will be placed before the disciplinary committee for further action. We have to go by the rules that are applicable to players as formulated by the BCCI. We have also requested the Delhi commissioner of police to provide us with information to help us complete our internal enquiry,” said Srinivasan.
He said the BCCI would not hesitate to take action ruthlessly if the players are found guilty.
Srinivasan revealed that the Rajasthan Royals have filed a complaint against the three players.
“We have been advised that the BCCI can’t give a criminal complaint against players as they are contracted to the franchisees. So, Royals are filing one. They have asked police to investigate and punish the players for their actions,” added Srinivasan.
While reports suggest that police have widened their probe suspecting the involvement of more players, Srinivasan said the BCCI was not informed about the involvement of any other cricketers.
The working committee have also decided to regulate player agents by introducing a system of accreditation. “A system would be introduced to monitor them. Also, there will be an ACSU official designated for each team to travel with them along with a security officer. Access to the players will be monitored very strictly with the knowledge of ACS officer who will be travelling with the team,” he added.
There were accusations against the BCCI that they had not taken any action inspite being informed about the incidents of corruption in the past editions. But Srinivasan denied it saying the BCCI was not informed about anything.
“Our ACSU officials educated all the players and teams in great detail prior to IPL-6. They had also given the players examples and how they should deal with approaches. In fact, players have signed a form saying they understood the briefing and the protocols,” he said.
The cricket board chief also admitted that not having the powers of government agencies is a handicap for the BCCI. “We are handicapped when it comes to control over bookies. Our ACSUs have got certain limitations. They can’t gather information like a police department. We will, however, strive hard to further strengthen the vigilance and monitoring of players,” he added.