Working Committee endorses Modi charges

Suspended IPL chief finds no support in the meeting

During the hour-long meeting at the BCCI headquarters here, Board president Shashank Manohar explained to the 22 members of the committee just why it was important to suspend Modi from all IPL and Board posts.

“All members agreed upon the charges against Modi,” a board source said.
“The members were also informed about all the happenings leading up to the suspension. Manohar informed the members about several deals that Modi entered into without the IPL Governing Council’s knowledge, including the TV rights deal,” he added.
Modi was suspended as the chairman of the league after the IPL final last Sunday because of alleged financial irregularities and rigging of bids.
Modi was charged on five counts, including irregularities in the bids of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab and in the broadcast and internet deals, and has to file his replies within the next week to these charges.

Invalid tickets issued to the Mumbai Cricket Association and charges of bypassing MCA while organising IPL matches in Mumbai were also discussed in the meeting.
“From now on, all IPL matches will have to be conducted through the host association. They cannot deal directly with the stadium authorities. The host association cannot be bypassed,” said the source.

The MCA had hit out at the IPL for dealing with match-staging authorities such as the Cricket Club of India and the DY Patil Sports Academy for hiring their stadiums directly and not through the association.
The MCA had also boycotted all home matches of Mumbai Indians held at the Brabourne stadium.

“The issue of invalid tickets was also discussed. From now, 15 percent of the tickets will be given to the host association and five percent will be kept aside for the BCCI,” the source revealed.

Invalid tickets were allegedly handed over to MCA members for the April 25 IPL final at the DY Patil stadium, which led to former India player Nari Contractor being humiliated at the gate when he went to see the summit clash.
Among other issues, Cricket Association of Bengal chief Jagmohan Dalmiya raised questions on the money spent in conducting the IPL.
“He spoke for about half an hour and raised a lot of points on the expenditure incurred in the IPL,” the source said.

The problems faced by Rajasthan Royals owners while organising matches in Jaipur were also discussed. Rajasthan’s team management had alleged that they were harassed by the local association, which is perceived to be anti-Modi.
Kings XI Punjab co-owners Preity Zinta and Mohit Burman were also seen at the BCCI headquarters. A source said Zinta was at the BCCI headquarters there to submit some documents to the IPL office.
“Her presence had nothing to do with the Working Committee Meeting. She and Mohit Burman had come to submit some documents related to their bid at the IPL office,” he said.

Currently trying to retrieve documents related to IPL which have either gone missing or are with Modi, the BCCI also decided that such official papers would now be in the sole custody of the Board.

“All original documents of the IPL and other deals will be kept with the BCCI in its head office,” the source said.

Strangely, the BCCI did not think it prudent either to schedule a media conference or even to send out a media release after the meeting.
There was no one to support Modi on Sunday with Punjab Cricket Association president IS Bindra skipping the meeting and delegating responsibilities to GS Walia.