Tuesday 14 July 2015 13:39, UK
Indian Premier League teams Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals are facing two-year suspensions following a long-running corruption probe.
A panel appointed by India's top court proposed on Tuesday that identical two-year suspensions be imposed on the Chennai and Rajasthan franchises - two of the eight teams in the IPL.
It also recommended life suspensions on Chennai official Gurunath Meiyappan and Rajasthan's Raj Kundra from all cricket-related activities.
Later on Tuesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said it would respect the panel's verdict and pledged to clean up cricket to protect "the integrity of the game."
The Supreme Court panel was formed in January to determine the punishments after a probe by a separate committee had found the teams and officials guilty.
Meiyappan, son-in-law of International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Narayanswamy Srinivasan and Kundra, a former Rajasthan co-owner, had been found guilty of illegal betting.
Srinivasan had earlier been restricted by the court from running for another term as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India owing to a conflict of interest. His company India Cements held a stake in the Chennai franchise.
"As the face of the team, he (Meiyappan) ought not to have indulged in betting practices," retired chief justice RM Lodha, who headed the panel, read out from the verdict which also criticised the franchises for inaction that brought disrepute to the game.
"By regularly placing bets in IPL matches... he acted in gross violation of the anti-corruption code."
Referring to Kundra, the panel said: "This is not unusual when a part-owner and team official indulged in corrupt practices.
"The unsavoury individuals and bad elements become bold enough to involve vulnerable elements, including players, to all sorts of corruptions."
The Chennai Super Kings, who are captained by India's limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and include New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum, West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and South African batsman Faf du Plessis, are the most successful team in IPL history, having won the title twice in succession, in 2010 and 2011.
The Rajasthan Royals, also former champions, are skippered by Australia's Ashes batsman Steve Smith and include India batsman Ajinkya Rahane and New Zealand pace bowler Tim Southee.
It was not immediately clear whether the contracted Chennai or Rajasthan players will be allowed to represent other teams, if the suspensions are enforced.
The fixing controversy erupted during the 2013 IPL competition when former India paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other Rajasthan cricketers were arrested on suspicion of taking money to concede a fixed number of runs.
Sreesanth, who denied any wrongdoing, was subsequently banned for life by the Indian board.
The three-member committee headed by former chief justice Rajendra Lodha proposed the sanctions saying that Meiyappan and Kundra had been found to have indulged in betting on matches and been in contact with illegal bookmakers, "bringing the game, BCCI and IPL into disrepute".
Meiyappan, who was detained for two weeks by Mumbai Police in 2013 over allegations of spot-fixing, was cleared by a BCCI-appointed panel but a petition from the Cricket Association of Bihar led to the Bombay High Court declaring that panel "illegal and unconstitutional."
The Cricket Association of Bihar then took the issue to the Supreme Court, which ordered an investigation into the conduct of Srinivasan and 12 others.
On Tuesday, BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said the board would give its full observations after reading the entire report but was "committed to honour and respect judicial decisions".
"The BCCI is committed to ensuring transparency, accountability and cleansing the sport in order to restore the faith and confidence of millions of cricket loving people in the glorious game of cricket in general and IPL in particular," Dalmiya added in a board statement.
