KOLKATA: Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar on Wednesday dropped a bombshell, urging the cricket board to suspend the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and take all necessary steps to restore the public’s faith in the glamorous T20 tournament that has been rocked by a series of betting, spot-fixing and match-fixing allegations in recent times.
“Considering the latest developments in the BCCI, it is my considered opinion that until the faith of the people in the integrity of the game is restored, the IPL tournament for the year 2014 should be suspended.
“The Board members should remind themselves that money/profits is neither the aim nor the objective (of the cricket body). The primary duty is to promote a clean game of cricket,” Manohar said in a statement.
The Nagpur-based lawyer, who headed the BCCI from 2008 to 2011, reiterated his call to cleanse the IPL and stressed on the need to entrust the CBI with the task of investigation.
“I had said earlier that all IPL matches should first be investigated. Only then can all the erring parties be punished and the clean-up initiated. What has been lately revealed could well be the tip of the iceberg. I feel that a thorough probe needs to be done by CBI as the canvas of the activities extends throughout the country,” Manohar said in his statement.
Known to be a hard-nosed administrator with a squeaky-clean image, Manohar also came down heavily on the BCCI for its decision to shift the first half of IPL 7 to UAE in spite of its earlier decision not to play matches there following allegations of rampant match-fixing by bookies based there.
For the record, India have not played any match in the UAE since 2000 after investigations into world cricket’s first major match-fixing scandal revealed that a number of international matches may have been fixed by the bookies operating out of Dubai.
“Many years back, a conscious decision was taken by the BCCI to abstain from matches in the Middle-East in view of certain information regarding rampant betting and match-fixing. As far as I know, that decision has not been revoked. Due to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the decision to shift IPL matches to the Middle-East will further tarnish the image of the tournament,” Manohar said.