BCCI bars players from accepting gifts during CLT20

Jagmoham Dalmiya

Kolkata, Sep 1 (IANS) The Indian cricket board Sunday barred players from accepting gifts during the upcoming Champions League Twenty20, and decided to appoint an anti-corruption official along with a dedicated security person for each team.

An emergency working committee meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took these decisions in the wake of the spot fixing and betting scandal in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It also decided to restrict movement around the dugout and match officials area.

“An anti-corruption official along with a dedicated security official would be appointed to each team. The movement around the dugout and match officials area would be restricted and a strict code of conduct would be enforced,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said in a press release.

The steps follow the suggestions from BCCI interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, Patel said.

“The players, support staff and match officials shall not accept any gifts during the course of the tournament. They should disclose the value of the gifts that they have received 15 days prior to the commencement of the tournament and also the person from whom they received the gift,” the release said.

The BCCI also decreed that players and support staff would have to declare and disclose their mobile numbers.

“All calls coming through the hotel exchange will have to be cleared by the team manager,” said Patel.

The working committee also decided that the anti-corruption unit “will seek the help of the local police authorities wherever required”.

Indian cricket went through troubled times after three Rajasthan Royals cricketers — Ajit Chandila, S. Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan — were arrested by Delhi Police May 16 after a midnight raid in Mumbai on spot fixing charges. Twenty-nine people have been nabbed so far in the case.

BCCI president N. Srinivasan landed in a soup soon after, following allegations of the involvement of his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan in a betting scandal related to the tournament. After Meiyappan was arrested, Srinivasan stepped aside and Dalmiya was given temporary charge for the day-to-day running of the BCCI.