Two teams from cricket’s Indian Premier League could be banned from the glitzy Twenty20 tournament when a Supreme Court-appointed panel hands down its sentence today on a corruption scandal.
Officials from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Rajasthan Royals have already been found guilty of betting on matches and their respective teams now face heavy sanctions after an inquiry that also tainted International Cricket Council supremo N. Srinivasan.
An outright ban on the two former champions would be a devastating blow to what is only an eight-team tournament, and observers say former chief justice Rajendra Mal Lodha, who heads the three-man panel, is more likely to announce heavy fines.
Lodha was appointed head of the sentencing panel in January after the apex court found Royals’ co-owner Raj Kundra and CSK’s Gurunath Meiyappan guilty of betting on the outcome of matches in 2013.
The court had rejected the claims of Meiyappan, who had previously been described as team principal, that he was merely an enthusiast.
The court also ruled at the same time that Srinivasan, who is Meiyappan’s father-in-law, would be banned from holding any post in the Board of Control for Cricket in India, where he served as the president for three years from 2011.
– Tainted Indian Premier League teams to receive punishment
– EXCLUSIVE: KKR CEO determined to take franchise global
– Inside Story: How England won the 2005 Ashes
The outcome could have major financial consequences for some of cricket’s biggest names as CSK are captained by India’s ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni while Australia’s star batsman Steve Smith is at the helm of the Rajastan Royals.
The Royals, who won the inaugural event in 2008, are coached by Indian great Rahul Dravid.
The hugely popular Chennai are also the most successful team, having won the IPL in 2010 and 2011, and finished runners-up in 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2015.
Cricket circles are abuzz with speculation that the two teams will be suspended, but leading sports writer Ayaz Memon feels the franchises would get away with heavy fines.
Justice Lodha’s verdict on Chennai Super Kings & Rajasthan Royal to be announced Tuesday. Suspense has cricket establishment in a tizzy…
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) July 11, 2015
“I can’t see them being banned because that could ruin the entire tournament and have a ripple effect on sponsors and broadcasters,” he said.
Meawnhile, Hiken Shah, a player from Mumbai, was suspended ind-efinitely yesterday over an approach he made to an unnamed team-mate before this year’s tournament in April-May.
The Lodha panel has also been empowered to recommend changes in the BCCI constitution, but this is expected to be taken up at a later date.
