To indicate that all is not well within the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian Premier League (IPL), the official website of the lucrative and cash-rich T20 league has eliminated the Fair Play Award table from its pages. During the removal, Chennai Super Kings was engulfed in a potentially fatally destructive hullabaloo involving its CEO and team principal along with Rajasthan Royals who witnessed the arrest of three active players last week on charges of spot-fixing. Both were the top two teams spearheading the Fair Play Award table.
To be frank, the Fair Play Award is given out during each season of the IPL to the team with the best record of fair play. The winner of this award is decided based on the points the umpires give to the teams. In fact the IPL website www.iplt20.com includes a league table which continues to update during the tournament.
CSK will play the IPL 6 final against Mumbai Indians in Kolkata on Sunday despite the cloud of doubt looms over the franchise. Rajasthan Royals were ousted by Mumbai Indians on Friday night. Meanwhile, CSK CEO and team principal Gurunath Meiyappan, who is the son-in-law of BCCI president and India Cements head N Srinivasan, was arrested in Mumbai for his alleged role in betting in the IPL.
It is beyond any doubt that BCCI and IPL is enshrouded with the cloud of controversies. The interrogation of Vindoo Dara Singh has facilitated fresh investigation into the issue of spot-fixing in the IPL. Moreover the arrest of CSK CEO and team principal Gurunath Meiyappan has worsened the matter. These incidents may pull in more popular names into the tornado of spot-fixing. Hence it is justified that Fair Play Award table has been completely eliminated from the official website of the IPL.
