IPL spot-fixing: BCCI imposes life bans on Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan

Cracking the whip on corrupt players the BCCI on Friday slapped life bans on Indian Test pacer S Sreesanth and spinner Ankeet Chavan for being involved in the IPL spotfixing scam while handing out lesser punishments to some others in the scandal which rocked the Twenty20 league this year Amit Singh a former Rajasthan Royals player was handed a fiveyear ban while another RR cricketer Siddharth Trivedi got away with a lighter oneyear suspension after the BCCI disciplinary committee met here to discuss anticorruption chief Ravi Sawani39s report on the scam quotAfter considering the evidence on record and hearing each of the Players in person the Disciplinary Committee has passed the following orderMr Amit Singh is banned for a period of five years from playing any representative Cricket or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliatesquot BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement No more cricket for Sreesanth quotMr Siddarth Trivedi is banned for a period of one year from playing any representative Cricket or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliatesu00a0 quotMr Ankeet Chavan is banned for life from playing any representative Cricket or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliatesu00a0 quotMr S Sreesanth is banned for life from playing any representative Cricket or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliatesquot the statement addedu00a0 Young spinner Harmeet Singh was however let off for lack of strong evidence against him quotThe case against Mr Harmeet Singh has been closed in the absence of evidence against himquot The release had no mention of Ajit Chandila who allegedly lured the cricketers into the spotfixing net but a BCCI official said a decision on him will be taken at a later stage Since Chandila has just been released on bail the BCCI would like to give him an opportunity to depose in front of the committee before deciding the quantum of punishmentu00a0 The life bans on Sreesanth and Chavan were expected after Sawani had found them guilty of spotfixing and had himself recommended a life ban The scandal which broke out in May had shaken the cashrich Twenty20 event and led to a massive churning within the Boardu00a0 quotAll the disciplinary committee members were very cooperative and it went off well I gave them my side of the story All I have dreamt from childhood is to play for India and I will never cheat the gamequot Sreesanth said on Friday after appearing before the committeeu00a0 quotI have full faith in the judiciary as well as the BCCI and I will come clean on this whole issuequot added the 30yearold former Test pacer who was clad in a white shirt and blue denim jeans and was accompanied by a friend Manoju00a0 Ankeet Chavan The five players39 deposition came even as Sawani39s report was discussed by the BCCI committee headed by BCCI President N Srinivasan and comprising Board vicePresidents Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shahu00a0 Sawani has held Sreesanth Chandila and Chavan guilty of conceding a quotpredetermined number of runs per over in exchange for bribesquotu00a0 Trivedi and 21yearold Harmeet were cleared of the spotfixing charges but were found guilty of not reporting the approaches made by bookmakersu00a0 Sawani has recommended bans ranging from five years to lifetime for the players who even served jail time before being granted bailsu00a0 quotThe disciplinary committee may consider my report and impose such sanctions as considered appropriate to send out a strong signal indicating the zero tolerance policy of the BCCI to any corruption in the sport that is so dear to millions of Indians and fans abroadquot Sawani has said in the reportu00a0 quotObviously the anticorruption education given to the players had no impact on the conduct Therefore the players deserve no leniency whatsoeverquot he asserted u00a0A fourth player who did not appear before the committee but was found guilty is Amit Singhu00a0 Singh part of the IPL till last year was described by Sawani as quotthe bad fish that spoils the entire pondquotu00a0 Friday39s meeting also assumed significance because of the presence of Srinivasan who stepped aside as BCCI President after his soninlaw and Chennai Super Kings Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested for alleged betting Srinivasan39s company India Cements owns CSKu00a0 The daytoday functioning of the BCCI is currently being handled by former Board President Jagmohan Dalmiya but Srinivasan has rarely missed an opportunity to make his presence feltu00a0 By chairing Friday39s meeting he has once again tried to assert his position in the Boardu00a0 The spotfixing scandal broke out when Sreesanth Chavan and Chandila were arrested on May 16 along with 11 bookies and were charged under the Indian Penal Code section 420 and 120B which deal with fraud cheating and criminal conspiracyu00a0 The scandal led to an overhauling of the guidelines for players and owners in the IPL The BCCI drew up an action plan called 39Operation Cleanup39 which envisaged a series of measures to curb corruption in the IPLu00a0 Cheerleaders were barred along with the aftermatch parties for players and support staff It was also decided to restrict the movement of owners in the players dugout and dressing roomu00a0