Time for Srini to go was long ago
It’s a question of morality. Mr N. Srinivasan’s position as BCCI president became untenable the moment the Mumbai police arrested his son-in-law, Mr Gurunath Meiyappan, late on Friday night on gambling and cheating charges.
Norms of propriety in matters in which the conflict of interest becomes impossibly huge would best have been tackled by a temporary vacating of the top seat until the investigation runs its course and a clearer picture emerges of the extent of guilt. In this case, it is not only a close kin’s involvement that exacerbates the situation. The fact that he played a conflicted role of being part of the management of an IPL team throws up a compelling question of probity in public life and morality.
Far from taking the moral high ground and putting in his papers as the head honcho of the country’s national sport, Mr Srinivasan remains defiant. His company India Cements even went to the extent of disowning Mr Meiyyappan as “Team Principal” in a display of public duplicity that was undermined at once by proof existing freely in the media and on the Internet.
Having been accustomed to getting his way in the cricket board in which he has defied every norm when it came to sustaining conflicts of interest as administrator and IPL team owner, Mr Srinivasan has been guilty of running it like a fiefdom in which nothing mattered except his own interest. The good work done in terms of rewarding players and building top class infrastructure for the game tend to lose their value when the official sticks to his position regardless of his kin bringing disrepute to the game.
It’s a facile argument that the law will take its course. The sport has been a metaphor for fair play through 136 years of Test cricket. Although many instances of disrepute cropped up, none went like this to the very top. It is particularly disappointing to see such associations with the betting world as cultivated by Mr Meiyappan — he has allegedly confessed to betting — after several guilty players have been brought to book in the last decade. It’s all the more reason why cricket should make a lasting warning out of the likes of Sreesanth and the CSK team boss who have blotted the fair name of the game.
If cricket is poised for another clean-up, it is clear Mr Srinivasan cannot be the one wielding the broom or heading the organisation when the reformation is put into effect. He should consider his team fortunate to not have been disqualified from today’s final for the sins of its owners and bosses. That itself should be a huge relief to someone who has lost all credibility.
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