The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has imposed a life ban on cricketers S Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan of Rajasthan Royals after they were found guilty of spot-fixing that marred the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Disciplinary Committee of the BCCI, comprising Mr. N. Srinivasan, Mr. Arun Jaitley and Mr. Niranjan Shah announced the verdict after a meeting on Friday.
The BCCI's Anti-Corruption Unit chief Ravi Sawani had in its report found all the accused - Sreesanth, Chavan, Ajit Chandila, Amit Singh, Siddharth Trivedi and Harmeet Singh - guilty after analysing police reports and recommended a ban on all the accused.
Taking action based on Sawani's report, the Disciplinary Committee imposed a life ban on Srinivasan and Ankeet Chavan but left rest with a lighter punishment. Amit Singh has been given five years ban, while Siddarth Trivedi gets one year and Harmeet Singh left without any punishment citing lack of evidence.
Meanwhile, the verdict on Ajit Chandila, who was accused of luring cricketers into the scandal, was not announced on Friday. It is reported that BCCI will decide on his fate at a later stage as it's not long since he was released from jail on bail and they want to give him the chance to depose before the committee.
It may be recalled that Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila of Rajasthan Royals were arrested by the Delhi police on 16 May over charges of spot-fixing in the IPL matches. Several others, including Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief N Srinivasan and Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), were later arrested for their involvement in the scandal.
Complete Text of BCCI's Statement on Cricketers Accused in Spot-fixing
The Disciplinary Committee of the BCCI, comprising Mr. N. Srinivasan, Mr. Arun Jaitley and Mr. Niranjan Shah, enquiring into the allegations of match-fixing against certain players, held a hearing on 13.9.2013, at Hotel ITC Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi.
After considering the evidence on record and hearing each of the Players in person, the Disciplinary Committee has passed the following order: -
1. Mr. Amit Singh is banned for a period of five years from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.
2. The case against Mr. Harmeet Singh has been closed in the absence of evidence against him.
3. Mr. Siddarth Trivedi is banned for a period of one year from playing any representative Cricket or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.
4. Mr. Ankeet Chavan is banned for life from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.
5. Mr. S. Sreesanth is banned for life from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.
Sanjay Patel
Hony. Secretary
