New Delhi: There is no dearth of support for Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi even as his alleged role in betting and financial irregularity have been doing the rounds.
Sahara group's chief Subroto Roy, who is the owner of the new Pune IPL team, along with Royal Challengers, Bangalore owner Vijay Mallya have come out in support of Modi.
"But one thing is important Modi has done tremendous work for IPL and one should note that," said Roy.
"He (Modi) has done a very good job at running IPL," said Mallya.
"I think its rubbish, I have never heard of any county nationalising its sport. On the contrary sport should be governed by democratically elected bodies with little or no government intervention," Mallya replied when asked about the controversy.
"What started as the need for disclosing the ownership of franchise has now snowballed into storm. There is gambling everywhere in India. There's matka being played in the city of Mumbai with Rs 100 of crore. Betting on competitive activity is part of life here in India. If government wants to control betting then it should legalise it," he said.
Mallya also rubbished reports that the successful bid had upset the older franchisees.
"This cannot be a boys club or rich and famous such that when Kochi wants to gatecrash you get upset," he added.
But the IPL Commissioner is certain to lose his job with sources telling CNN-IBN that the BCCI will ask him to resign from his post on April 26.
The top officials of BCCI are meeting in Mumbai on April 23 to discuss the controversy surrounding the IPL. All IPL franchise owners have also been asked to attend the meeting from which Modi will be excluded. Sources say if Modi doesn't step down, then BCCI will convene special annual general meeting to oust him.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Modi is waging a lone battle for his survival within the corridors of the Indian cricket board. The board is set to initiate an independent investigation into allegations of financial bungling by the IPL chief.
All the three players in the latest IPL controversy - Modi, Shahsi Tharoor and Sunanda Pushkar all seem down and out.
But Kochi team owner Rendezvous Sports World says the company will not abandon the franchise and looks forward to Sunanda's support.
"That is where she said I have a friend who is politically big. And then obviously going to Kerala, these people thought that we need some big man, big recommendation, big face to identify ourselves. So it's she who brought in Shashi Tharoor and it was not Mr. Tharoor who brought Sunanda Pushkar in," said Rendezvous Sports World spokesman Satyajit Gaekwad.
Gaekwad hinted that the doors have not been shut on Sunanda.
"We would definitely look forward in future if we can utilise her expertise for the betterment of business prospect of Rendezvous Sports World in general. Nut right now we respect her sentiments," he said.
"We want Sunanda Pushkar to continue to play her role in IPL Kochi," he added.
Gaekwad also ruled out moving the team out of Kochi.
"But we'll always be named as Kochi Kerala team, the pride of Kerala people and we would like to stick to that," he said.
Sahara chief's clarification
Subroto Roy issued a clarification on Wednesday and said his comment on Modi doing a "good job" at IPL had been taken out of context. “I have come to know that my recent comment on Lalit Modi has been taken in wrong context by some sections of media," he said in a statement.
"Modi has done a commendable job in conceptualizing and bringing IPL to present stature," he said. However I believe that nobody is above the law and let the law of the land take its own course. I am confident that the ongoing probes will conclude in clearing the matter in an accurate way.”
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