BCCI stumps Modi as governing council meet begins

Lalit Modi stayed defiant against BCCI even as board chiefs headed for the meeting to decide on the fate of the IPL.

Zeecric Bureau

Mumbai: Unceremoniously sacked IPL commissioner Lalit Modi stayed defiant against BCCI even as board president Shahank Manohar and secretary N Shrinivasan headed for the apex board’s governing council meeting with the top brass to decide on the course of action for the chief of the billion dollar league. “All I wanted was to leave a small footprint on the great game of cricket”, Modi told reporters after he was asked to comment on his ouster. BCCI President Shashank Manohar, Secretary N Srinivasan, CAO Ratnakar Shetty and Vice-Chairman IPL Niranjan Shah, I S Bindra, former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri are attending the meeting that began at around 10 a.m. Justifying the suspension of Lalit Modi as vice president of Board of Control for Cricket in India and Indian Premier League`s chairman and commissioner, board president Shashank Manohar on Monday said his alleged acts of "individual misdemeanours" had brought a bad name to the board. Manohar also issued a show cause notice to Modi asking him to explain within 15 days why disciplinary action should not be taken against him. "The events of the last few days have thrown up lot of sad and unfortunate developments," Manohar said in a press statement in the early hours Monday. "While we rejoice and celebrate the great success of IPL season 3, the alleged acts of individual misdemeanours of Mr.Lalit Modi, Chairman IPL and vice president, BCCI, have brought a bad name to the administration of cricket and the game itself", Manohar added. Manohar said that he waited for the IPL to conclude before taking any action against Modi because he did not wanted to "disrupt" the tournament."Immediately after the conclusion of the IPL final, the BCCI secretary, Mr N Srinivasan has in consultation with me issued a show cause notice to Lalit Modi under Rule 32 (iv) calling upon him to show cause within 15 days why disciplinary action should not be taken against him." "Simultaneously in exercise of the powers vested in me under Rule 32 (vii), I have suspended Mr Lalit Modi from participating in the affairs of the Board, the IPL, the Working Committee and any other Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India," Manohar said. The nationwide tax raids have allegedly unearthed financial bunglings and at the centre of the controversy is Modi, who has been accused of having silent stakes in at least three IPL franchises. With BCCI`s own image also taking a hit due to the IPL row, miffed Board bigwigs boycotted the IPL awards. Incidentally, Srinivasan is the MD and vice-chairman of India Cements, which owns the Chennai Super Kings, who won the summit clash against Mumbai Indians. His support base in the BCCI might be non-existent but Modi had found the backing of IPL franchise owners, who felt the league`s mentor had become the victim of a media trial and deserves a chance to explain himself. Modi had, infact, requested that the meeting be deferred by five days to allow him to prepare his case but the BCCI was having none of it. The extent to which Modi has been marginalised can be gauged from the fact that the Champions League Twenty20, of which Modi is the chairman, held a meeting without him.