India cricket boss’ son-in-law found guilty

Panel finds Chennai Super Kings team principal and son-in-law of BCCI chief guilty of passing information to bookmakers.

Protests erupted last year after the match-fixing scandal broke last year [EPA]

The son-in-law of Indian cricket board boss Narainswamy Srinivasan has been found guilty of passing on information to bookmakers by a committee investigating match fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The three-member committee headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee found Chennai Super Kings team principal, Gurunath Meiyappan, guilty of involvement in match fixing in its report on Monday to India’s Supreme Court.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had cleared Meiyappan of the charges last year.

Meiyappan spent two weeks in jail last year for being in touch with illegal bookmakers before being bailed out.

The committee also recommended that Raj Kundra, the co-owner of Rajasthan Royals, be investigated for his alleged role in betting.

The Supreme Court will study the 170-page report while it waits for the BCCI and Chennai Super Kings to respond to the findings.

The committee refused to agree with Srinivasan’s contention that Meiyappan was “just a cricket enthusiast” and not involved in running the team, which is primarily owned by India Cements Company of which Srinivasan is the Managing Director.

It said that “Meiyappan was the face of Chennai Super Kings” as he was often seen at the team dugout during IPL matches. The Chennai franchise had referred to Meiyappan as the team principal but denied that he had any official role in the team once he was arrested by police.

The probe committee report was submitted just two days ahead of the next IPL auctions and could jeopardise the participation of the Chennai franchise in this year’s tournament in April-May as a team can be barred if its officials bring the game into disrepute.

The IPL fixing controversy erupted last year after a clutch of cricketers including test pace bowler Shantakumaran Sreesanth were arrested by the Indian police for allegedly giving away a minimum number of runs in exchange for money from bookies.

Source: News Agencies