IPL teams cleared of spot-fixing: report

An internal Indian cricket board panel investigating allegations of spot-fixing during this year’s Indian Premier League has reportedly cleared two teams and its officials.

“The report mentioned that no concrete evidence was found against CSK (Chennai Super Kings), Rajasthan Royals, (Chennai team principal) Gurunath Meiyappan and Royals co-owner Raj Kundra as far as their involvement in fixing was concerned,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) treasurer Ravi Savant was quoted as saying in Monday’s The Indian Express.

The details of the report submitted by the two-member panel comprising former judges Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian were not shared with the media and will be discussed at an IPL governing council meeting on August 2 for a decision on whether to revoke the suspensions of the two officials.

This report is independent of ongoing investigations by Indian police.

The spot-fixing controversy arose after the arrest of Rajasthan Royals players Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan by Delhi police, who claimed they had proof that the players had conceded more than a specified number of runs per over in return for money from illegal bookmakers.

The three players were charged with cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust while a fourth player, Sidharth Trivedi, was also questioned by police. Sreesanth and Chavan are out on bail, while Chandila is in jail awaiting trial.

Meiyappan, who is the son-in-law of BCCI president Narainswamy Srinivasan, spent nearly two weeks in jail after he was accused of spot-fixing, while Kundra admitted only to betting and was never arrested.

Srinivasan, who is the managing director of the India Cements company that owns the Chennai Super Kings, was forced to step aside pending the investigations for fear of a conflict. Former ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya took over as acting BCCI president in the interim.

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