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BCCI chief stands his ground

Kolkata: In a  packed press conference that lasted 27 minutes, BCCI president N Srinivasan on Sunday rejected demands for his resignation and pleaded not guilty. Asserting there was no revolt against him in the BCCI, he made it clear that he cannot be ‘railroaded, pushed and threatened to quit’.

‘My support is complete and not one member in BCCI has asked for my resignation,’ he said. He announced the setting up of a three-member commission to look into allegations against his son-in-law and CSK team principal Gurunath Meiyappan who has been arrested on charges of betting. ‘I have a job and we will act strictly. I assure you, the BCCI will act without fear or favour to investigate and if player, franchises or owners have breached any rules, action will be taken,’ he said.

The three-member enquiry commission will consist of two members of the IPL operations committee and an independent person in whose appointment he will have no role. The five members of the committee are Arun Jaitley, Rajeev Shukla, Sanjay Jagdale, Ajay Shirke and Ravi Shastri.
Srinivasan said there was no allegation against CSK as a team. As for Gurunath, he said he did not have any role in the running of the team. He was ‘enthusiastic and has been travelling with the team’. ‘What is his role, whether he transcended any rules. The commission will deal with it,’ he said.
At the very outset, he said the last few days have been difficult for the BCCI and for him.

‘You would appreciate that these days have also been difficult for me as father and father-in-law. However I sit here as BCCI President and set aside all personal feelings. I will not shirk from my duties however difficult they might be,’ he said.

To a pointed question, he said: ‘First and foremost, I am not an accused. I have done nothing wrong. What is his (Gurunath’s) role...He did not have any role in the management. Let the Commission go into it. It will give the report to the board as a whole. I will play no role.’
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