The IPL governing council is headed for a stormy meeting on Monday with a defiant Lalit Modi deciding to not just attend but set the agenda for it as well which might make it difficult for the BCCI to sack him as Chairman and Commissioner of the Twenty20 league.
Mr. Modi has decided to attend the meeting after initially declaring it "illegal". The move puts the ball in BCCI’s court as Mr. Modi has asked the governing council members to give their complaints against him in writing and backed by documents.
“Members of the governing council have been requested to give all such complaints in writing with the requisite supporting documents at the meeting on the morning of April 26 to the chairman and commissioner, so they can be replied in full,” Mr. Modi said in a statement.
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The single-point agenda chosen by Mr. Modi appears to be a bid to block any discussion on serious allegations against him widely reported in the media over the past several days.
That is because, it would be near impossible for the governing council members to provide documentary support since such documents are with the Income Tax and other investigative agencies.
The nationwide tax raids have allegedly unearthed financial bunglings and at the centre of the controversy is Mr. Modi, who has been accused of having silent stakes in at least three IPL franchises.
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With BCCI’s own image also taking a hit due to the IPL row, miffed Board bigwigs boycotted the IPL awards.
Board President Shashank Manohar, secretary N. Srinivasan and IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah are expected to give the Twenty20 League’s final at the D Y Patil Stadium this evening a miss as well due the current imbroglio.
Incidentally, Mr. Srinivasan is the MD and vice-chairman of India Cements which owns the Chennai Super Kings who will be seen in action in the summit clash against Mumbai Indians.
The trio, along with BCCI CAO Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, reached the Board’s headquarters inside the Wankhede Stadium this morning presumably to finalise details about tomorrow’s meeting convened at 10 am by Srinivasan at Manohar’s behest.
Mr. Modi has taken a defiant stand and refused to quit the IPL chairman’s post even though the dice looks heavily loaded against him at the meeting with only former BCCI chief Inderjit Singh Bindra likely to back him.
While Mr. Modi has been making his views public through twitter, the BCCI officials have been engaged in closed-door meetings, albeit informally, to work out their plan of action for Monday’s meeting.
His support base in the BCCI might be non-exsistent but Mr. Modi has found the backing of IPL franchise owners, who feel the league’s conceptualiser has become the victim of a media trial and deserves a chance to explain himself.