BCCI should stay at an arm’s distance from IPL to avoid any conflict of interest: Ajay Maken

Sports Minister Ajay Maken on Wednesday that it’s important that the BCCI stayed at an arm’s distance from the IPL to avoid any conflict of interest that can eventually mount to corruption, says a report in The Times Of India. “The IPL should not be under BCCI so that there is no overlapping of interests. Both bodies should be separate organizations. Even in the English Premier League (EPL) and other leagues the world over, there is always a distance between the leagues and the parent sports federations. The Football Association (FA) never organizes the EPL,” said Maken.

The minister also used the opportunity to reiterate that it was high time BCCI came under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and that the proposed sports bill – which has faced a lot of resistance — was tabled in the Parliament.

Quoting the example of the English Premier League and other premier league competitions around the world, the sports minister called for autonomy and transparency in the Indian context of cricket administration, keeping in mind the overlapping of interests, sys a Hindu report.

“He refused to react to individual names when probed on the subject further. The minister also reiterated his argument that the BCCI should be registered as a sports body with the sports ministry rather than continue as a corporate entity. Mr. Maken was categorical, however, in his observation that the BCCI should go to the root of the problem and that the mere suspension of the five players would not suffice,” adds the report.

Meanwhile a report in The DNA says that turning the heat on Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), sports minister Ajay Maken has directed his ministry to draft a letter to the finance ministry requesting it to expedite the investigation into the ongoing Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) violation cases.

In the light of fresh evidence of spot-fixing in Indian cricket, Maken doesn’t want this opportunity to slip out of his hands, said a ministry official. “There are about 42 cases of FERA violations against the BCCI. These cases are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for quite some time. The investigation is going on at a normal pace and the sports minister wants a speedy probe so that the culprits are brought to justice,” the official told DNA on Wednesday. When asked when the letter would be dispatched, the official hinted that it could just be a matter of a day or two.