Gurunath was the face of CSK - IPL probe report

[BDforever]

Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of BCCI president N Srinivasan, has been proved to have indulged in betting and passing on information, as alleged, and is deemed to be a team official by the IPL probe committee, led by Justice Mukul Mudgal. The 170-page report, submitted to the Supreme Court on Monday, also said "the material on record clearly indicates that Gurunath was the face of Chennai Super Kings and the team official of CSK".

The report also said the fact that Raj Kundra, the Rajasthan Royals team owner, had "resorted to betting" through Umesh Goenka in the IPL is "evident" from the statements of Goenka recorded by the Delhi court. However, it said that "further and serious investigations" on the basis of the Goenka statements were required.

The question of whether Gurunath was involved in match-fixing and spot fixing, the report said, had "not been investigated thoroughly by the anti-corruption of the ICC and the BCCI or the the Crime Branch Criminal Investigation Department of the Chennai police, "even though some information was available for such an investigation to be conducted."

The committee stated that Gurunath had been in violations of several sections of the IPL Operational Rules, the IPL Anti-Corruption Code and Articles of the Code of Conduct for Players and team officials. A section of the report with reference to 'conclusions and recommendations' has said that it can only report a "violation of the rules" to the Court as it does not have a mandate to impose any punishment. "It is for the Hon'ble Supreme Court to decide what action if any, is to be taken pursuant of the report of the Committee."

Along with the report, the judges have also been given a single copy of sealed envelope whose contents are available only for the court. The contents of the envelope will only be opened and read by the judges and not even the court registery will be given a copy of the same.

The three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal and comprising additional solicitor general N Nageshwar Rao and Assam Cricket Association member Nilay Dutta, was set up by the Supreme Court in October 2013 to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Meiyappan, Super Kings team owner India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Ltd, as well as the larger mandate of allegations around betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches and the involvement of players. It interviewed more than 100 people in connection with its probe.

source: India Cricket News: Gurunath was the face of CSK - IPL probe report | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Devil Soul]

and his SuSuru will head ICC.... Mojaaah hee Mojaah....

Probe implicates BCCI chief's relative in fixing scandal: report
AFP
NEW DELHI: The newly-elected boss of world cricket N. Srinivasan suffered a blow on Monday when an Indian Supreme Court panel probing a match-fixing scandal said his son-in-law was guilty of illegal betting on games.

After an extensive probe, the three-member panel also said allegations of match-fixing against Gurunath Meiyappan during the Indian Premier League required further investigation, the Press Trust of India reported.

The panel, headed by retired judge Mukul Mudgal, suggested that Meiyappan may have passed on information to outsiders for betting during the Twenty20 competition, the news agency said.

Meiyappan was the team principal of Chennai Super Kings, an IPL franchise owned by Srinivasan's India Cements company and captained by national skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The court had appointed the panel on October 8 to investigate the scandal that rocked the popular tournament run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last year.

The probe was separate from investigations by police, who have filed charges in court against a string of officials, players and bookmakers for illegal betting during the tournament.

Meiyappan has been charged by Mumbai police with forgery, cheating, criminal conspiracy, breach of contract and handing critical team information to alleged bookmakers.

The panel spent four months interacting with players, IPL team owners, the police, journalists, anti-corruption unit personnel and various other stakeholders.

Its report, running into 170 pages and more than 4,000 pages of annexes, was handed to Supreme Court judges Ananga Kumar Patnaik and Jagdish Singh Khehar on Monday. The court will take up the report on March 7.

The panel dismissed Srinivasan's claim that Meiyappan was merely a cricket enthusiast, saying he was the face of the franchise.

It also said Srinivasan himself faced a conflict of interest by being the BCCI president and also the owner of the IPL franchise, “a serious issue” that needed to be considered by the court.

The revelations come just days after Srinivasan was chosen as the first chairman of the International Cricket Council in a controversial shake-up of the governance and structure of cricket's world body.

The shake-up was approved by the ICC's executive board on Saturday. Allegations of betting and spot-fixing against another IPL franchise owner, Rajasthan Royals' Raj Kundra, also needed to be further investigated, PTI quoted the report as saying.

Despite the probe, the Supreme Court allowed the players' auction for the seventh edition of the IPL this year to go ahead as scheduled in the city of Bangalore on Tuesday and Wednesday.

BCCI vice-president and chief spokesman Rajiv Shukla told AFP the board would take further action only after the Supreme Court gave its verdict.

“This is a panel report, let us wait to see what the Supreme Court rules,”he said.

“I have no further comments to make.”

Even as the reputation of the IPL took a hit, the future of the Chennai Super Kings was thrown into doubt.

IPL rules state that a franchise “may be terminated immediately if the franchisee or owner acts in any way which has a material adverse effect upon the reputation or standing of the League or the game of cricket”.

The IPL, which began in 2008, features the world's top players signed up for huge fees by rich business houses and individuals in a glitzy mix of sport and entertainment.

The panel recommended that leading former cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble needed to advise young players about the malaise of match-fixing.