Raj Kundra, the co-owner of Rajasthan Royals who admitted to betting, was on Monday suspended from all cricketing activities till the pendency of inquiry by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The BCCI which sat for an Emergent Working Committee (EWC) Meet here, discussed the issue involving spot fixing and betting at length to come out with a decision on Kundra, who has a 11.7% stake in the Jaipur-based IPl franchise.
"The Working Committee today decided to suspend Raj Kundra on allegations of gambling on IPl VI matches till the pendency of inquiry," the head of BCCI's Interim arrangement panel Jagmohan Dalmiya said at an absolutely mismanaged and chaotic press meet which followed the meeting.
"Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar had grilled Kundra for 11 hours and he had admitted to gambling in IPl matches and also IPl CEO Sundar Raman has got a complaint from a closed source. I will not reveal the name of the source," he said.
The EWC also came up with a decision that the two-member probe panel comprising of Justice R Balasubraniam and Justice Jayaram T Chouta , entrusted with the investigations of issues regarding Chennai Super Kings and Gurunath Meiyappan, will also probe into the Kundra and Rajasthan Royals matter.
The EWC also finalized the appointments of Sanjay Patel as the Honorary Secretary and Mumbai Cricket Association President Ravi Savant as the new Treasurer. These posts were lying vacant following the resignation of Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke respectively.
Dalmiya added that Ravi Sawani, the BCCI's Anti-corruption and Security Unit Chief submitted his report on three tainted cricketers - S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, who were caught by Delhi Police for alleged involvement in spot fixing in various matches in this year's IPl, to the Disciplinary Panel and the panel which includes Niranjan Shah and Arun Jaitley, will decide the charge-sheet process.
The EWC also discussed measures to curb corruption and clean up Indian cricket and the ways of running of the IPl. During the meeting, Punjab Cricket Association President IS Bindra raised objection on authority of Dalmiya to call for the meeting as the Cricket Association of Bengal chief is not the Interim President.
Then, Sawant replied that if five members of the WC will propose a name, he can call a meeting and take various decisions. Meanwhile, Kundra expressed shock over the decision. "I am shocked and upset at the unilateral decision taken today by the BCCI and will fight the grounds of suspension," Kundra said in a statement.
"All sorts of accusations were made against me without proof, by people in powerful positions. It is sad that without accurate facts, I am being made a scapegoat and put under trial by the media based on unproved claims," he added.
Kundra said he could have betted on betting website legally if he wished to but he didn't do it as he is well aware of ACSU rules. "People need to realise that as a British national and NRI, if I wanted to bet I could have done so off-shore on any betting website legally. However I did not do so as the IPl contract as per ACSU rules clearly states that owners cannot bet on the IPl," he said.
He said team owners should be given a place in IPl governing board so that they can participate in the running of the sports body. "In many BCCI meetings I have often suggested that team-owners be given a seat on the IPl governing board so that owners are involved in decision making, as in many international sports bodies," Kundra said.
"Us owners are the ones heavily invested in the IPl and should have a voice in its functioning, however till date no team-owner's body has been welcomed." However, surprisingly, there was no word to counter Delhi Police Chief Kumar's claims.