Calling for Board of Control for Cricket in India chief N. Srinivasan’s head, former International Cricket Council boss Ehsan Mani on Monday said there was a “lot of conflict of interest” and the former should have “stepped aside” under prevailing circumstances.
Rejecting demands for his resignation, Srinivasan on Sunday announced setting up of a three-member commission to look into the allegations against his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings “team principal” Gurunath Meiyappan, who has been arrested on charges of betting.
Mani, however, was not convinced.
“In a tournament like this where so much money is involved, so much betting is going on, this is inevitable. What is surprising is BCCI’s own reaction to this. Under the circumstance the president should have stepped aside, even if temporarily,” Mani was quoted as saying.
Asserting that he had done nothing wrong and that there was no revolt against him in the BCCI, Srinivasan made it clear that he cannot be “railroaded, pushed and threatened to quit”.
With Srinivasan continuing to hold the top job, Mani said the outcome of the commission is bound to be influenced.
“It appears that the president will have some influence regardless of what the outcome of the investigation is and no matter how independent the commission is. “There is a lot of conflict of interest involved between his involvement with CSK and India Cements (that owns the team). The process has to be transparent,” Mani said.
The just-concluded Indian Premier League was rocked by the spot-fixing scandal which came to light after the arrest of Rajasthan Royals cricketers S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan.
PTI adds: Cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad wondered why both the UPA and the NDA were silent and alleged no genuine effort were being made to clean up the mess. “Where are those keepers of high moral values in both UPA and NDA...Why are not they raising voice on the removal of Srinivasan over IPL scandal?” the BJP MP asked.
“These people who raise voice in the Parliament on any political issue are not speaking in public over the spot-fixing in the IPL and the removal of BCCI chief over the dirty episode,” Azad said.
Azad, a member of the 1983 World Cup winning Indian team, said as a cricketer he was aghast over the prevailing situation in cricket and regretted that no genuine efforts were shown by the keepers of morality to clear the dirt from cricket.