Even as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N Srinivasan maintains a stoic silence on the IPL spot-fixing scandal, clarion calls for his resignation from various quarters are gathering momentum.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) headed by Sharad Pawar, a former BCCI President, has demanded his immediate resignation. “If he has any sense of morality and public accountability, he should resign until the investigations are over,” said NCP spokesperson D P Tripathi, who also urged the Sports Ministry to bring the BCCI under its control.
Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy, whose team Pune Warriors recently exited the IPL, also demanded Srinivasan’s resignation and his replacement by Sharad Pawar. “Everything revolves around Srinivasan. He doesn’t know how to run a sports body like BCCI. A sports body chief shouldn’t have such egoistic attitude,” Subrata Roy said.
Sahara has also withdrawn its sponsorship deal with the national team and has clearly asserted that it would sponsor the team only if Srinivasan is removed.
Roy also demanded the termination of CSK’s contract. “If a franchise is involved in betting their contract should immediately be scrapped. If an owner is involved in betting, it’s wrong,” Roy said.
Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi also echoed similar views. “If Gurunath is arrested, the CSK franchise has to be terminated with immediate effect and re-auctioned later,” Lalit Modi tweeted.