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Modi sings in chorus with nemesis Manohar, calls for suspension of IPL 7
Backing his one-time nemesis Shashank Manohar over his scathing views that the IPL has lost its credibility, former chairman of the T20 League, Lalit Modi has said the upcoming season of the tournament needs to be suspended to clean up the game.
"I completely agree with Mr Shashank Manohar and his observations on the fact that the serious allegations regarding betting, spot-fixing and match-fixing are (sic) all seriously tarnished the image of the game and importantly, the fans and the public at large are slowly but surely starting to lose faith in the Indian Premier League in particular and game at large," said Modi, based now in London, in a statement.
"Thus, as I mentioned yesterday in one of my tweets, the biggest and most important task ahead of the BCCI now would be to win back the hearts and faith of the fans. And, that in my mind can be done only by ensuring that the BCCI promote what should be a clean game of cricket," stated the man whose brainchild was IPL.
"Given the above context and the current goings-on, I think it only right that until the faith of the people in the integrity of the game is restored, the IPL tournament for the year 2014 should be suspended."
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'The BCCI did nothing for one full year'
Season 7 of IPL is set to be held from April 16 with the first part of the event scheduled in UAE because of the general elections in the country.
Former BCCI chief Manohar had on Wednesday issued a media statement demanding the upcoming season of IPL be suspended and all IPL matches be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Interestingly, Srinivasan was the secretary and Manohar the president when BCCI suspended Modi after IPL season 3 in 2010 on allegations of financial impropriety. Later, he was expelled by the Board's general body.
Modi also hit out at the current BCCI bigwigs saying they had a whole year but did nothing to fix the situation after the fixing scandal broke during IPL season 6.
"Unfortunately the BCCI had one full year -- 365 days to gear up into some action, but alas to no avail.
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'It is critical that one meticulous probe be conducted immediately'
"We all know what sadly happened. A lot of players, too, have felt the same way especially given the uncertainty in the air, but have failed to voice their opinions for want of a fierce backlash from the powers that be," Modi has stated.
"I agree with Mr Shashank Manohar wholeheartedly, that had an unbiased thorough investigation happened when the scandal broke, we would have been on a better wicket today. It is thus all the more critical that one meticulous probe be conducted immediately and all the erring parties be punished so that we are able to purge cricket and initiate a complete clean up, so that this generation and all future generations to come are able to view the gentleman's game in right earnest."