Thilanga Sumathipala, former Sri Lanka Cricket and Asian Cricket Council president and an ICC director, had to give up his post in the global body after a report found his involvement with the betting industry.
On the other hand, N. Srinivasan is focussed on taking over as the ICC chairman in the body’s revamped structure come July, despite the Supreme Court directive that he should step down as BCCI president.
“Srinivasan is concerned more about the ICC chairman’s post now. He wants to ensure that even if he steps down or is asked to, he will still take over as the ICC chairman,” a BCCI official told HT.
This is in contrast to what befell the Sri Lankan. Sumathipala lost his ICC post after the body’s ethics officer investigated a breach of section 7.2 of the ICC’s Code of Ethics against him and found evidence regarding his relationship with a betting company. The inquiry even did not allow him to contest the SLC elections in 2013.
Sumathipala asserted that a path similar to the one that led him to relinquish his ICC post must be followed when it comes to deciding Srinivasan’s future role in the international body.
“The SLC had nominated me as president to the ICC in 2004 but since there was a case against me, I moved away. Similarly, with this issue on, Srinivasan must also decide against taking up the ICC chairman’s post,” Sumathipala told HT. “If he still decides to take the post, it will be against the ethics of world cricket. It is the responsibility of the ICC to not have someone who has such a case against him in their setup, which is meant to keep world cricket clean.”
Srinivasan has been asked by the Supreme Court to step down to ensure a free and fair probe into the IPL’s spot-fixing scandal since his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and his Chennai Super Kings team are under the scanner following betting allegations.
“Srinivasan had a good reputation till this came up. Why is he in a hurry? He could have waited for the probe to be completed before returning as BCCI chief and can wait till it is over before moving into the ICC,” Sumathilapa added.
